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Characterization of the health conditions of the elderly in geriatric centers of the city of Loja. Ecuador, 2017

Abstract:

Introduction: The demographic changing on a worldwide scale are not unfamiliar to Ecuador where the life expectancy of the population has increased. Objective: To characterize the health conditions of the elderly who attended geriatric centers in the city of Loja in 2017. Material and Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study where quantitative techniques were used applying different geriatric scales to 87 older adults who attended the Municipal Elderly Care Center No. 1, and Daniel Álvarez and San José Centers in the city of Loja, Ecuador. Results: The 59.1% of the older adults studied were women; 59.7% had just basic or elementary education and the average age was 84.01 years. It was specified that 62.1% of them did not present comorbidity. Visual neurosensory (64.4%) and auditory (50.6%) deficits were identified. Fragility was found in 54.0% of the cases as well as indicators of functional dependence on basic activities (73.5%) and instrumental activities (93.1%). Cognitive deficit was evaluated in 50.6% of the cases, and depression was diagnosed in 56.3% of them. Conclusions: The older adults included in the study were mainly women with basic or elementary education and an average age of over 80 years. Subjects who did not have comorbidity, those who presented visual and auditory deficit, physical fragility, dependence to perform the basic activities of daily life and the instrumental ones, cognitive deficit, and depression prevailed in the study.