Resumen

BAYARRE VEA, Héctor D et al. Risk factors of physical disability in the elderly from Havana City, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Granma and Holguín . Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2008, vol.24, n.2. ISSN 0864-2125.

INTRODUCTION: physical disability is an important contemporary health problem that is related to factors investigated in the national and international arena. OBJECTIVE: to identify the risk factors of physical disability in the elderly from the selected provinces. METHODS: case-control studies nested in descriptive studies were conducted. All the elderly with diagnosed physical disability were considered as cases and a sample of older adults without this condition as controls, at a ratio 4:1. The information was obtained by Mini-Mental State Examination, Lawton Index and Survey of Risk Factors for Physical Disability. The data processing was carried out by multiple logistic regression by the STATA program package, version 8.0. RESULTS: for the elderly from the capital, the probability of physical disability was influenced by the following variables: sex, inadaptation to retirement, loss of the social role, age, feelings of loneliness and educational level; for those from Camagüey: age, hip fracture sequel, absence of confidents, unsatisfaction with the daily activities, presence of feelings of loneliness and occupation; for the aged from Las Tunas: age, occupation, sex, sensation of inactivity, unsatisfaction with the daily activities and educational level; for those from Granma: age, inadaptation to retirement, loss of the social role, the presence of feelings of loneliness and sex; and for the elderly from Holguín: age and unsatisfaction with the daily activities. CONCLUSIONS: age is a risk factor for physical disability in the elderly from the investigated territories. The female sex, the feelings of loneliness and the unsatisfaction with the daily activities are risk factors in 3 provinces. Unemployment, inadaptation to retirement, the loss of the social role and the low educational level favor the appearance of disability in 2 provinces; whereas the absence of confidents, the sensation of inactivity and the hip fracture sequel are risk factors for the aged from one province.

Palabras clave : Older adult; physical disability; risk factor.

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