Factors associated with the social, individual and programmatic vulnerability of older adults living at home

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To verify the occurrence and factors associated to social, individual and programmatic vulnerability among older adults. METHOD: A household and cross-sectional survey conducted with 701 community-dwelling older adults. For evaluation of the individual component, we used the frailty phenotype; for the social component, the social vulnerability index was implemented; and for the programmatic component, the Index of access and use of health services. Descriptive and bivariate statistical analyzes and multinomial logistic regression were also carried out (p≤ 0.05). RESULTS: It was verified that 15.7% of the older adults lived in areas of high social vulnerability, 31.8% were physically frail and had a moderate programmatic vulnerability score. Older people of a lower age, having lower education and income levels were more likely to live in areas of high or very high social vulnerability. The female gender and the high age groups increased the chances of the frailty condition. It was also observed that the older adults in the 70├ 80-year age group and having lower education were more likely to have medium programmatic vulnerability. CONCLUSION: The importance of primary care professionals to consider the multidimensional aspect of vulnerability in identifying older adults who need to be prioritized in health care is evidenced.