title: Predictors of 10-year mortality in a population of community-dwelling Brazilian elderly: the Bambuí Cohort Study of Aging.
abstract: We used data on 1,399 participants aged 60 and over from the Bambuí Cohort Study of Aging to examine predictors of mortality in a socioeconomically disadvantaged population. From 1997 to 2007, 599 participants died and 6.2% were lost to follow-up, leading to 12,415 person-years (pyrs) of observation. The death rate was 48.3 per 1,000 pyrs. Age (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.40), male gender (HR = 1.80), never married (HR = 1.78) or a widow (HR = 1.26), poor self-rated health (HR = 1.31), inability to perform four or more activities of daily living (HR = 3.29), number of cardiovascular risk factors (HR = 1.51 for two and HR = 1.91 for three or more), Trypanosoma cruzi infection (HR = 1.27), and number of medications (HR = 1.06) were each significantly (p < 0.05) and independently associated with mortality. The Mini-Mental State Examination score showed a protective effect (HR = 0.96). Except T. cruzi infection, other predictors of mortality were highly consistent with those found in more affluent elderly populations.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos em Saúde Pública e Envelhecimento, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brasil. lima-costa@cpqrr.fiocruz.br
authors.forename: Maria Fernanda
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Lima-Costa
authors.forename: Sergio Viana
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Peixoto
authors.forename: Divane L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Matos
authors.forename: Josélia O A
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Firmo
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Uchôa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D002423:Cause of Death; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000401:mortality*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors