Ramírez UX, Bolaños SM

Language: Spanish
References: 31
Page: 88-100
PDF size: 705.33 Kb.

ABSTRACT

In recent years, Costa Rica has experienced an increase in its citizens’ life expectancy and an improvement in its healthcare system. As a result, the country is now dealing with a demographical transition in which it is common to see healthcare users aged 90+. By studying this population – a sample representative of the larger population of senior citizens – researchers can gain insight on their health statuses and factors that affect longevity, which can be further studied and used to create the programs that these citizens need to maximize their functional independence. The goal of this study is to document the sociodemographic characteristics, and the medical and functional condition of the ninety and hundred year old senior citizens within the sample, as well as to document the most important factors affecting their independence, both in their basic and instrumental activities. The information used was gathered from the CRELES (Costa Rica, Longevity and Healthy Aging Study, as per its Spanish acronym), a study that has been led by the Central American Population Center since 2002. In this study a survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 8,000 senior citizens. Subsequently geriatric scales and tests, and other performance tests were applied to a subsample of 3,000 senior citizens. This is a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study. In total 278 people over ninety years of age were studied, representing 9.8% of the individuals included in the CRELES study. Among the most important findings was the fact that most participants are female and that 30.9% of them had no formal education (illiterate). Up to 18% of the individuals were from the province of Alajuela and worked in agriculture. The most frequent pathologies were sleep disorders (51%) and hypertension (44%); 14% reported having no previous pathologies. 24.9% of the individuals had a BMI of less than 20. 17.9% of the individuals had received no chronic treatments and 81% of them had never been hospitalized. Regarding participant’s selfperceived health status, 63% of them considered that they had a good to excellent health. Upon assessing their functional conditions, it is clear that 32% of them are completely independent in Basic Daily Activities and up to 6% of them are also independent in their daily instrumental activities. As participants become older they become more dependent (p = 0.001) and men are more independent than women (p = 0.028). Their instrumental activities were positively affected by hypercholesterolemia, in that their degree of independence was higher when this condition was present (p = 0.088). These findings should allow better measures to be taken for the early detection of risk factors. That includes the patient’s nutritional condition, their functional condition and, most importantly, the management of chronic diseases that decrease the risk of cerebrovascular diseases, all of which help decrease the risk of disabilities in senior citizens when dealt with early, but especially in older individuals, those who are most vulnerable.

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