Fatores associados à autopercepção de saúde entre idosos de grupos comunitários

Objective: To investigate the association between negative self-perception of health and individual characteristics in older adults from community groups in Southeastern Brazil. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out between 2014 and 2017 with a sample of 157 older adults from 2 social groups held by social and/or religious services in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. A structured questionnaire containing questions used in population-based surveys was used and anthropometric measurements of weight, height and waist circumference (WC) were taken. Self-rated health (the outcome variable) was assessed using the following question: would you say your health is bad, fair, good, or very good? The answers were categorized into negative self-perception (poor and fair) and positive self-perception (good and very good). Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney test, Fisher’s test, Chi-squared test, and multivariate logistic regression were used. Results: The rate of negative self-perception of health was 32.5%. Negative self-perception of health was associated with lower levels of income (OR=5.02; 95%CI: 2.08 - 12.08), physical inactivity (OR=3.51; 95%CI: 1.26 - 9.78), and presence of two or more diseases (OR=4.96, 95%CI: 2.10 - 11.72), regardless of age and sex. Conclusion: Negative self-perception of health was associated with lower levels of income, physical inactivity and presence of two or more associated diseases.