Abstract
Negative health behaviors incorporated into lifestyle are considered the main risk factors for chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in adults and the elderly. However, the relationship between the aggregation of these factors and the sociodemographic conditions of the elderly needs to be better elucidated. The aim of this study was to analyze the simultaneity of the five risk factors for NCDs in the elderly with low economic status living in a rural city in Brazil, and their association with sociodemographic variables. Cross-sectional study was conducted with elderly people from Family Health Units of the city of Ibicui-Bahia, Brazil, where 310 elderly were enrolled. Rates of physical inactivity in leisure (PIL), alcohol consumption, sedentary behavior, overweight/obesity and tobacco consumption were collected through a questionnaire in an individual interview. The average age among participants was 71.62 (± 8.16) years. The group presenting the five behaviors had high scores in both sexes (men O/E = 242.5; women O/E = 161.7). Among men and women, the highest scores found through clustering of simultaneous NCD risk factors were for the consumption of alcohol with smoking, and physical inactivity with smoking. When analyzing the association between groups and sociodemographic characteristics, men were more physically inactive than women (OR = 0.96, CI = 0.92-0.98) and concomitantly had unhealthy habits (smoking). In conclusion, the elderly are exposed to health risk factors for concurrent CNCDs and the accumulation of these risk factors was not associated with sociodemographic variables, it is suggested that further studies be carried out with the prevalent variables as well as to analyze why the elderly population presents these levels.
Highlights
The human aging has been a historically pronounced worldwide trend
The present study was based on data related to the macroproject Monitoring the Health Conditions of Elderly People (MONIDI) in a small municipality in the state of Bahia, Brazil (Nascimento, et al.; 2015)
According to this can be concluded that the elderly is exposed to health risk factors for concurrent noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)
Summary
The human aging has been a historically pronounced worldwide trend. Approximately 22% of the elderly population has increased in recent decades worldwide (Bloom et al, 2015). It is known that NCDs are varied (cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, etc.) they are the main cause of death worldwide (Williams et al, 2018). Numerous characteristics, such as being 70 years of age or older and residing in low- and middle-income countries, lead to the risk of death (Bennett, et al, 2018). Some strategies to prevent and control NCDs are under development to understand the etiology of these diseases, such as investing some countries in preventing NCDs and obtaining economic and social returns (Bertram et al, 2018), on the other hand, actions are used to modify risk factors (tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating behaviors, overweight/obesity, among others) (World Health Organization, 2018). Some investigations are focused on analyzing the clustering of multiple behavioral risk factors for NCDs, providing supportive interventions that target multiple risk behaviors, helping to plan future preventive strategies (Meade et al, 2016; Noble et al, 2015)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
