Department of Cell Biology, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy.
Gerontology. 2011;57(4):327-34. doi: 10.1159/000316941. Epub 2010 Jun 18.
The unprecedented growth of the elderly population is posing important social and medical problems as management of this population is highly demanding in terms of assistance and care. Consequently, many studies are focusing on the elderly subjects in order to better understand their needs by identifying various environmental, social, psychological, and genetic factors determining the quality of ageing.
Our aim was to carry out a survey of the elderly Calabrian population in order to highlight the social and medical conditions of this continuously growing population group.
We have been monitoring the elderly population of Calabria for more than 10 years. For the present study, we collected data regarding 853 subjects by using two specific questionnaires, one for the subjects older than 90 years (400 subjects) and one for the subjects aged between 65 and 85 years (453 subjects).
The survey allowed us to carry out an extensive description of the ageing Calabrian population regarding the sociodemographic characteristics, living conditions, cognitive functioning, level of independence in activities of daily living, former and current diseases and health disorders. We could notice that males were in a better condition than females. In fact, male subjects turned out to have better physical performance and lower comorbidity, although their life expectancy is lower. Ultranonagenarians had a lower incidence of serious diseases (such as diabetes, osteoporosis and gastric ulcer), but a higher incidence of non-fatal chronic, debilitating conditions (cataract and bronchitis among others).
The data we collected and analyzed offer a portrait of elderly Calabrian subjects, on who they are, how they feel, which social and psychological resources they have, and what their health status is. Analysis of the data highlighted that they are characterized by a lower physical performance in comparison to other European populations. Finally, the data presented here may also serve as a valuable source of information to characterize the ageing Calabrian population and improve the care of these subjects.
老年人口的空前增长给社会和医疗带来了重要问题，因为这部分人群在护理和照料方面的要求很高。因此，许多研究都集中在老年人群体上，以通过确定决定衰老质量的各种环境、社会、心理和遗传因素来更好地了解他们的需求。
我们旨在对卡拉布里亚的老年人群体进行调查，以突出这一不断增长的人群群体的社会和医疗状况。
我们对卡拉布里亚的老年人群体进行了 10 多年的监测。为了进行本研究，我们使用了两个特定的问卷收集了 853 名受试者的数据，一个用于 90 岁以上的受试者（400 名），另一个用于 65 至 85 岁的受试者（453 名）。
该调查使我们能够对卡拉布里亚老龄化人口进行广泛描述，包括社会人口特征、生活条件、认知功能、日常生活活动的独立性水平、以前和现在的疾病和健康障碍。我们注意到，男性的状况优于女性。事实上，男性受试者的身体表现更好，合并症更少，尽管他们的预期寿命较低。超高龄人群患严重疾病（如糖尿病、骨质疏松症和胃溃疡）的发病率较低，但患非致命性慢性衰弱疾病（如白内障和支气管炎等）的发病率较高。
我们收集和分析的数据提供了卡拉布里亚老年人群体的画像，包括他们是谁、他们的感受、他们拥有的社会和心理资源以及他们的健康状况。数据分析表明，他们的身体表现比其他欧洲人群差。最后，这里呈现的数据也可以作为一个有价值的信息来源，用于描述卡拉布里亚老龄化人口，并改善对这些人群的护理。
