Predictores de mala salud autopercibida en una población de personas mayores

Introduction

Self-Rated Health is part of the comprehensive concept of Quality of Life and is a valid measurement of health status. The main objective of this study was to test the predictive value of some different variables on the poor Self-Rated Health among elders.

Material and methods

We performed a cross-sectional study on a sample consisting of 140 participants. Measurements: age, gender, level of education, environment, cognitive status, physical impairment, diseases, health perception and social support. The influence of the studied variables on the poor Self-Rated Health was performed with a logistic regression analysis and a ROC curve to establish the cut-off values for these variables with the best sensitivity and specificity to predict the poor Self-Rated Health.

Results

A poor Self-Rated Health was significantly associated with age, comorbidity, and the perception of poor functional social support, whereas no association was found with gender, environment and educational level.

Conclusions

Old age, the number of diagnosed diseases, and functional social support are Self-Rated Health risk factors, while the characteristics and repercussions of the diseases should not be considered.