[Epidemiological characteristics, functional capacity and factors associated with elders in a private health...

This cross-sectional study aimed to trace the epidemiological profile of elders associated to a private healthcare insurance and to check their functional capacity, through the Barthel index and associated factors. The population of the study included all associates of the insurance over 60 years old. The data was collected with two self-answered questionnaires: one about family socioeconomic factors and another related to individual health issues. Regarding the functional capacity among the 254 aged participants, four (1.6%) individuals presented total dependence, one (0.4%) was seriously dependent, one (0.4%) was moderately dependent, 29 (11.4%) were somewhat dependent, and 219 (86.2%) were classified as independent. Thus, the variable was added in such way that 86.2% had been classified as independents and 13.8% (CI 95%: 9.5 to 18.0) as dependents. The adjusted analysis showed that only age remained associated to the outcome. Results showed that the individuals over 80 years old presented greater probability of functional incapacity. It was also pointed that in populations with improved socioeconomic conditions there is the possibility of survival bias.