Predictors for the functional incapacity of the elderly in primary health care

cross-sectional study, of which 388 older people participated, conducted in three Primary health care Units, using the Katz index and Lawton’s scale. The research project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee.

Results:

regarding the degree of dependency for Basic Activities, 90.2% were less independent for dressing themselves; and for Instrumental Activities, 77.1% of the elderly were less independent for doing handwork. The functional incapacity for basic activities was associated with age and color; for instrumental activities, with age, education, income of the elderly and self-assessment of health.

Conclusion:

attention should be paid to the overall assessment of the elderly person, in order to tailor care plans geared towards the preservation of their autonomy and the promotion of active ageing.

Descriptors:
Primary Health Care; Elderly; Health of the Elderly, Daily Activities, Nursing

Variables	Total	Functional incapacity
	Total	BADLs		p value^* * Pearson’s Chi-square Test;	IADLs		p value^* * Pearson’s Chi-square Test;
	n	n	%	p value^* * Pearson’s Chi-square Test;	n	%	p value^* * Pearson’s Chi-square Test;
Gender				0.322			0.400
Male	138	14	29.2		59	33.3
Female	250	34	70.8		118	66.7
Age group, years				<0.001			<0.001
60-70	196	10	20.8		54	30.5
70-80	120	9	18.8		62	35.0
≥ 80	72	29	60.4		61	34.5
Schooling				0.001			< 0.001
No schooling	133	27	56.2		87	49.2
With schooling	255	21	43.8		90	50.8
Marital status				0.021			0.310
No partner	182	30	62.5		88	49.7
With partner	206	18	37.5		89	50.3
Origin				0.222			0.471
Capital	66	04	8.3		26	14.7
Countryside of the State	266	37	77.1		123	69.5
Other States	56	7	14.6		28	15.8
Color				0.025			0.619
Not white	58	43	89.5		138	78.0
White	90	5	10.5		39	22.0
Religion				0.141			0.030
Not Catholic	96	32	66.7		53	29.9
Catholic	292	16	33.3		124	70.1
Who they live with				0.982			0.336
By themselves	32	4	8.3		12	6.8
Not by themselves	352	44	91.7		165	93.2
Occupation				0.006			<0.001
No occupation	341	48	100.0		167	94.4
With occupation	47	0	0.0		10	5.6
Household income				0.023			0.002
Up to 2 MW^ at the time of research, the current MW was 678.00 R$; MW = minimum wage; IADLs = Instrumental Activities of Daily Living; BADLs = Basic Activities of Daily Living.	191	31	64.6		102	57.6
> 2 MW	197	17	35.4		75	42.4
Income of the elderly person				0.002			<0.001
Up to 1 MW^ at the time of research, the current MW was 678.00 R$; MW = minimum wage; IADLs = Instrumental Activities of Daily Living; BADLs = Basic Activities of Daily Living.	210	36	75.0		120	67.8
> 1 MW	178	12	25.0		57	32.2

	PR_crude	95%CI	p value^* * Pearson’s Chi-square Test;	PR_adjusted	95%CI	p value^ Wald test of heterogeneity;
Age group, years			<0.001			<0.001 ^* ***** Wald test of linear trend;
60-70	ref.			ref.
70-80	0.92	0.86-0.99		1.32	0.56-3.13
≥ 80	1.57	1.30-19.1		6.05	2.94-12.46
Schooling			0.001			0.361
No schooling	ref.			ref.
With schooling	0.87	0.79-0.95		0.77	0.45-1.34
Marital status			0.021			0.162
No partner	ref.			ref.
With partner	0.92	0.85-0.99		0.65	0.36-1.19
Color			0.025			0.029
White	ref.			ref.
Not White	1.10	1.03-1.18		2.58	1.10-6.05
Religion			0.141			0.328
Not Catholic	ref.			ref.
Catholic	0.94	0.85-1.03		0.76	0.43-1.32
Household income, MW ^** ****** at the time of research, the current MW was 678.00 R$; MW = minimum wage; PRcrude = crude prevalence ratio non-adjusted variables – bivariate analysis; 95%CI = confidence interval of 95%; PRadjusted = adjusted prevalence ratio - variables adjusted amongst themselves; MW = minimum wage.			0.023			0.520
Up to 2	ref.			ref.
> 2	0.92	0.85-0.99		1.26	0.62-2.56
Income of the elderly person, MW ^** ****** at the time of research, the current MW was 678.00 R$; MW = minimum wage; PRcrude = crude prevalence ratio non-adjusted variables – bivariate analysis; 95%CI = confidence interval of 95%; PRadjusted = adjusted prevalence ratio - variables adjusted amongst themselves; MW = minimum wage.			0.002			0.172
Up to 1	ref.			ref.
> 1	0.89	0.83-0.96		0.63	0.32-1.23
Alcoholic			0.123			0.629
No	ref.			ref.
Yes	0.91	0.84-1.00		0.75	0.23-2.41
Smoker			0.123			0.502
No	ref.			ref.
Yes	0.91	0.84-1.00		0.64	0.17-2.36
Sleep and rest			0.046			0.169
Non-restorative/Insomnia	ref.			ref.
Restorative	0.92	0.85-0.99		0.70	0.43-1.15

	RP_crude	95%CI	p value^* * Pearson’s Chi-square Test;	PR_adjusted	95%CI	p value^ Wald test of heterogeneity;
Age group, years			<0.001			<0.001^* ***** Wald test of linear trend;
60-70	ref.			ref.
70-80	1.18	0.96-1.46		1.68	1.29-2.20
≥ 80	4.14	2.39-7.18		2.38	1.85-3.06
Schooling			<0.001			<0.001
No schooling	ref.			ref.
With schooling	0.53	0.42-0.69		0.68	0.57-0.84
Religion			0.030			0.288
Not Catholic	ref.			ref.
Catholic	0.78	0.61-0.99		0.90	0.73-1.10
Occupation			<0.001			0.181
No occupation	ref.			ref.
With occupation	0.65	0.54-0.78		0.68	0.39-1.20
Household income, MW ^** ****** at the time of research, the current MW was 678.00 R$; MW = minimum wage; PRcrude = crude prevalence ratio non-adjusted variables – bivariate analysis; 95%CI = confidence interval of 95%; PRadjusted = adjusted prevalence ratio - variables adjusted amongst themselves.			0.002			0.817
Up to 2	ref.			ref.
> 2	0.75	0.62-0.91		0.98	0.78-1.21
Income of the elderly person, MW ^** ****** at the time of research, the current MW was 678.00 R$; MW = minimum wage; PRcrude = crude prevalence ratio non-adjusted variables – bivariate analysis; 95%CI = confidence interval of 95%; PRadjusted = adjusted prevalence ratio - variables adjusted amongst themselves.			<0.001			0.028
Up to 1	ref.			ref.
> 1	0.63	0.52-0.76		0.77	0.61-0.97
Alcoholic			<0.001			0.107
No	ref.			ref.
Yes	0.64	0.53-0.77		0.60	0.33-1.12
Sleep and rest			0.020			0.347
Non-restorative/Insomnia	ref.			ref.
Restorative	0.80	0.65-0.97		0.91	0.75-1.11
Self-assessment of			0.003			0.021^* ***** Wald test of linear trend;
health condition	ref.			ref.
Very bad/weak	1.07	0.88-1.30		0.94	0.75-1.18
Neither good, nor bad	0.76	0.63-0.90		0.73	0.57-0.92
Very good/good			0.197
With morbidities	ref.			ref.
Without morbidities	1.13	0.94-1.36		1.13	0.92-1.40	0.236

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[1] CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Livia Carvalho Pereira. E-mail: livia.zinha@hotmail.com