Elderly individuals in primary health care: Quality of life and associated characteristics

Resumo

Abstract The aim of the study is to assess the quality of life of elderly individuals with hypertension and diabetes Mellitus. A total of 371 elderly individuals with hypertension and/or diabetes who are being treated in the public primary health care network, with a mean age of 71 years, M = 71, 34 (SD = 6.848) participated in this study. It is a quantitative-qualitative study, carried out in two stages. In the first, the quantitative data were collected using the following instruments: WHOQOL-bref, Mini Mental State Exam, and a sociodemographic questionnaire, in order to screen the second stage participants (13 elderly individuals), who corresponded to the qualitative strategy, using the focal group technique. The results showed that the elderly individuals without hypertension/diabetes had higher quality of life mean values. Those affected by both diseases presented the worst ‘physical’ domain mean values. Qualitative data indicate the ‘social’ and the ‘psychological’ domains as the most important ones, also revealing the centrality of the disease in their reports.
Resumo O objetivo do estudo é avaliar a qualidade de vida de idosos portadores de hipertensão arterial e diabetes Mellitus. Participaram 371 idosos portadores de hipertensão e/ou diabetes acompanhados na atenção primária à saúde, com média de idade de 71 anos M = 71, 34 (DP = 6,848). Trata-se de um estudo de abordagem quanti-qualitativa, realizado em duas etapas. Na primeira, os dados quantitativos foram coletados por instrumentos (WHOQOL-bref