Predictors of healthy aging for Brazilian elderly

Abstract

Healthy aging is a continuous process of learning and personal fulfillment with the objective of autonomy and independence for the elderly. This study proposed to identify the level healthy aging of Brazilians elderly using a simplified form. Ninety-eight community active elderlies from a city in Eastern Amazonia, Brazil, mean age 73.1 (±9.1) were evaluated and submitted to study. Canonical discriminant analysis with Lambda de Wilks test were used to validate the score of health aging in three levels, with a significance of 5%.The most important factors in the construction of the healthy aging indicator for this sample of elderly Brazilians were perception of health (p<0.001), perception of quality of life (p <0.001), family relationship (p<0.001) and falls (p=0.001).To concluded, thirteen questions was able to identify healthy elderly. The predictors of healthy aging for this sample of elderly Brazilians were health and positive quality of life, good family support and not having fallen in the last year.