[Prevalence and functional impact of arthropathies in elderly adults].
BACKGROUND
Musculoskeletal disorders are public health issues in the entire world; their impact seems to be higher on elderly people.


OBJECTIVE
To establish the prevalence and the functional impact of arthropathies on the elderly people from Mérida, Yucatán, México.


METHODS
The SABE-PAHO survey was administered to a random sample of people older than 60 Mérida, Yucatán, México. Arthropathy was evaluated by self report; on the other hand, physical function was evaluated using the modified Katz's scale (basic activities of daily living, BADL) and the Lawton's scale (instrumental activities of daily living, IADL).


RESULTS
1747 patients (68.6% females, 31.4% males), aged 71.5 +/- 8.5 years old, were studied; 498 (28.5%; 95% CI = 26.4 to 30.6) had arthropathy. After logistic regression and adjustment for chronic obstructive lung disease, ischemic cardiopathy, and stroke presence or to be older than 80 were performed, arthropathy was found associated to BADL (p=0.03) as well to IADL (p=0.04) impairment.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of arthropathy in elderly people from Mérida, México, was 28.5%, it was found to be independently associated to impairment for BADL and IADL.
Alvarez-Nemegyei
José
J
Unidad de Investigación Médica, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Mérida, Yucatán, México. nemegyei@yahoo.com.mx
Esperón-Hernández
Ramón Ignacio
RI
Herrera-Correa
Gloria María
GM
Nuño-Gutiérrez
Bertha Lidia
BL
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires