Vulnerability and associated factors among older people using the Family Health Strategy

The objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of vulnerability and associated factors among older people using family health strategies in Várzea Grande, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was performed with 377 community-dwelling older people. The dependent variable, vulnerability, was assessed using the Vulnerable Elders Survey. The independent variables included sociodemographic characteristics and the health status of the study population assessed using the following validated instruments: the Mini-Mental State Examination; Katz ADL scale and Lawton and Brody IADL scale; Geriatric Depression Scale; and Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form. Bivariate analysis was conducted using the Mantel-Haenszel chi-squared test with prevalence ratios and multivariate analysis was performed using Poisson regression. The data showed that 49% of the study population were vulnerable. The variables that showed the strongest association with vulnerability were dependence in IADLs (PR = 4.43), presence of depressive symptoms (PR = 1.34), and being aged 80 and over (PR = 1.34). The prevalence of vulnerability found by the present study was high when compared to other studies with community-dwelling older people. The VES-13 was shown to be easy to use in primary healthcare settings and particularly practical for screening vulnerability among older people.