title: [Health status, physical functioning, health services utilization, and expenditures on medicines among Brazilian elderly: a descriptive study using data from the National Household Survey].
abstract: The objective of this research was to describe health conditions and health services utilization among Brazilian seniors. The study was based on 28,943 adults > 60 years (99.9%) from an overall National Household Survey (PNAD 1998). The results show that prevalence rates for at least one chronic disease (69.0%), hypertension (43.9%), arthritis (37.5%), and inability to feed oneself/bathe/use the toilet (2.0%) are very similar to those observed in other populations. Physician visits and hospitalization patterns are within the variation reported by different countries. The low prevalence rates of older adults who had interrupted activities because of a health problem (13.9%) or had been bedridden (9.5%) in the previous 2 weeks or hospitalized in the previous year (13.6%) show that the vast majority are not subject to these events. Considering that 50% of this population live on less than or equal to one Brazilian monthly minimum wage, expenditures on medications consume approximately one-fourth (23%) of total income for half of the elderly population.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos em Saúde Pública e Envelhecimento, Centro de Pesquisas Ren Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30190-002, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Fernanda
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Lima-Costa
authors.forename: Sandhi Maria
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Barreto
authors.forename: Luana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giatti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations