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Harmful habits in elders with multimorbidity

Abstract:

The prevalence of multimorbidity, the simultaneous presence in an individual of two or more chronic diseases or disabilities, increases with age, which makes it necessary to correct the habits and lifestyles of the geriatric population to achieve an active and satisfactory old age. The objective of the work was to determine the presence of harmful health habits in older adults with multimorbidity in the province of El Oro, Ecuador. A descriptive, observational and cross-sectional study was carried out in adults over 65 years of age, between September 2019 and November 2020. The sample was 398, selecting 181 older adults who presented multimorbidity. The following questionnaires were used: “Biopsychosocial assessment of the elderly from a bioethical approach”, and the WHOQOL-BREF, evaluating harmful habits and lifestyles. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate descriptive statistics were used. The average number of illnesses was 2.9 ± 1.2 with a range between 2 and 8 illnesses. 22.1% presented more than four illnesses / disabilities. Arterial hypertension prevailed. Most of the older adults with multimorbidity did not refer to the consumption of foods that were harmful to health or toxic habits, however, they did not have enough sports and recreational or leisure activities. Women with multimorbidity had a more active life, carried out more recreational, social and exercise activities, and reported a greater capacity to carry out activities of daily life, and greater enjoyment of life than men.