Brandão Daniela, Ribeiro Óscar, Paúl Constança
Research and Education Unit on Ageing. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Portugal.; Center for Health Technology and Services Research. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Portugal.
Research and Education Unit on Ageing. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Portugal; Center for Health Technology and Services Research. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Portugal.
Acta Med Port. 2017 Jun 30;30(6):463-471. doi: 10.20344/amp.8060.
The ageing of populations is evident in most developed countries, and the oldest old group is one of the segments with the fastest growing. The aim of this paper is to examine sociodemographic and health related characteristics of the portuguese oldest old, using a census-based approach.
A descriptive study considering all residents aged 80 years and older at the time of the 2011 Census (n = 532 219) was conducted. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, sensory functions (seeing, hearing), functional status (walking/climbing stairs, bathing/dressing alone), cognition (memory/concentration), and communication (understanding others/being understood) as assessed by the Portuguese census official questionnaires were analyzed.
Findings revealed that most of the oldest old are women (64.5%), widowed (53.9%), illiterate (46.1%) and live in private households (88.8%). Walking/climbing stairs (57.1%), vision (39.1%) and hearing (35.1%) were the dimensions where the oldest old presented major constrains. In parallel, understanding others/being understood (25.9%) and memory/concentration (34.4%) were the dimensions with lower percentages of difficulties. Significant differences were found between octogenarians/nonagenarians and centenarians for vision, walk/climb stairs, and bathing/dressing alone, with centenarians presenting a higher percentage of difficulties.
Portuguese oldest old showed significant difficulties in activities of daily living, nevertheless cognitive and communication capacities seem to be commonly maintained. Taken together, these findings suggest the need for functional assistance, which can be ultimately managed by the older person him/herself.
Based on the observed differences between centenarians and younger oldest old, specific interventions should be equated to better respond to their potentially distinctive needs.
在大多数发达国家，人口老龄化现象明显，而最年长的老年人群体是增长最快的群体之一。本文旨在采用基于人口普查的方法，研究葡萄牙最年长老年人的社会人口学特征及与健康相关的特征。
开展了一项描述性研究，纳入了2011年人口普查时年龄在80岁及以上的所有居民（n = 532219）。分析了葡萄牙人口普查官方问卷所评估的社会人口学特征、感官功能（视力、听力）、功能状态（行走/爬楼梯、独自洗澡/穿衣）、认知（记忆/注意力）和沟通（理解他人/被他人理解）方面的信息。
研究结果显示，大多数最年长的老年人为女性（64.5%）、丧偶（53.9%）、文盲（46.1%），且居住在私人家庭中（88.8%）。行走/爬楼梯（57.1%）、视力（39.1%）和听力（35.1%）是最年长老年人存在主要限制的方面。与此同时，理解他人/被他人理解（25.9%）和记忆/注意力（34.4%）方面存在困难的比例较低。在视力、行走/爬楼梯以及独自洗澡/穿衣方面，八九十岁老人和百岁老人之间存在显著差异，百岁老人存在困难的比例更高。
葡萄牙最年长的老年人在日常生活活动中存在显著困难，不过认知和沟通能力似乎普遍得以维持。综合来看，这些发现表明需要功能辅助，最终可由老年人自己来管理。
基于百岁老人与年龄稍小的最年长老年人之间观察到的差异，应制定具体干预措施，以更好地满足他们可能存在的独特需求。
