Prevalência e fatores associados à multimorbidade em idosos brasileiros

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of multimorbidity in the elderly in Brazil and its factors associated with socioeconomic and lifestyle variables. In addition, an integrative review was conducted on the topic. This is a cross-sectional, population-based study. The database was used for the National Health Survey. The elderly were considered multimorbital when they had a diagnosis of two or more chronic diseases. In the analysis of the data, the chi-square test was used and then the prevalence ratios were estimated by means of Poisson multiple regression, both with 95% confidence level. A total of 11,697 elderly people with a mean age of 70.1 years participated in the study. As a result of the integrative review, the associated factors were smoking, alcohol consumption, living in rural areas, low schooling, female sex, older people and not living with children. For most articles, a low household income was also associated with multimorbity. The prevalence of multimorbidity was 53.1% in brazilian elderly. In the multivariate analysis, the elderly (p<0.001), the older (p=0.002), those who are not single, more strongly associated with widowers (p=0.001) and those with health insurance in the (p<0.001) are associated with multimorbidity. Compared with the elderly with two chronic diseases, women are associated with three (p=0.003) and four or more chronic diseases (p<0,001). In addition, hypertension and high cholesterol (31.3%), hypertension and stroke (30.9%) and hypertension and diabetes (23.3%) were found to be the most prevalent conditions for those with multimorbidity. There was association of the first condition with the female sex (p<0.001), younger elderly people (p<0.001) and the fact of not smoking (p = 0.005). On the other hand, the second condition was associated with female gender (p = 0.001) and low level of education (p<0,001). The third group was associated with low educational level (p=0.020), those who did not exercise (p<0.001) and did not smoke (p<0.001). It is concluded that multimorbidity in Brazilian elderly is a very common condition and that it has been influenced by socioeconomic factors and little related to lifestyle. However, for the main multimorbities, in addition to socioeconomic conditions, lifestyle also influenced their prevalence.