[A novel method for targeting and characterizing healthy older people].
BACKGROUND
there is no established definition of healthy aging in clinical practice, although it is a World Health Organization goal.


OBJECTIVE
to develop a clinical protocol to identify healthy older people living in the community and study their clinical, laboratory and functional characteristics.


METHODS
healthy people aged 60 years or older, were invited to participate in the study, by newspapers and radio, if they selfperceived as healthy, lived in the community, were functionally independent and had low disease burden. Potential participants were initially screened by telephone, and those who met the inclusion criteria were included. They had a comprehensive geriatric assessment which included clinical, anthropometric, laboratory and functional assessments.


RESULTS
of 384 people who answered the call, 83 subjects aged 60 to 98 years (57% women) met the inclusion criteria of healthy older people. Seventy eight percent did not consume any medication, 100% were able to perform physical activities that required at least three metabolic equivalents (Mets). Basic laboratory showed that approximately 90% of subjects had normal values, using standard benchmarks established for an adult population.


CONCLUSIONS
the protocol used in this work was able to identify healthy older people with low disease burden and good functionality. It also validated history and comprehensive geriatric assessment as reliable instruments to identify these subjects.
Programa de Geriatría, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. mcarras@med.puc.cl
Marcela
M
Carrasco
Gabriel
G
Martínez
Arnaldo
A
Foradori
Trinidad
T
Hoyl
Eduardo
E
Valenzuela
Teresa
T
Quiroga
Homero
H
Gac
Sofia
S
Ihle
Pedro Paulo
PP
Marin
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006304:Health Status; D040361:Healthy People Programs / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014944:World Health Organization