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Health Status Indicators Among Community-Dwelling Elders
with Arthritis: The Bambuí Health and Aging Study
GUSTAVO P. MATTA MACHADO, SANDHI M. BARRETO, VALÉRIA M.A. PASSOS, and MARIA FERNANDA LIMA-COSTA
ABSTRACT. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1606 elders using baseline data from the Bambuí Health and Aging Study, a population based cohort study of older adults. Arthritis was self-reported and defined as a physician diagnosis of arthritis or rheumatism, and/or chronic hand and knee symptoms. Health status indicators, defined a priori as the main independent variables, were self-rated health, psychological distress (based on the General Health Questionnaire), report of sleep complaints, disability in activities of daily living (ADL), "2-week" disability, mobility disability, and 2 composite indexes of mental health problems and physical disability problems. Logistic regression compared health status indicators among elders reporting arthritis (N = 833) and non-arthritis subjects. Results. After controlling for sociodemographics and chronic conditions, all measures were found to be associated with arthritis: sleep complaints (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.43–1.92), fair (OR 2.17, 95% CI 1.62–2.90) and poor self-rated health (OR 3.48, 95% CI 2.46–4.94), ADL disability (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.02–2.87), mobility disability (OR 2.65, 95% CI 2.06–3.41), 2-week disability (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.35–2.57), 2 mental health problems (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.67–3.04), and one (OR 2.46, 95% CI 1.91–3.16) and 2 physical disability problems (OR 4.19, 95% CI 2.02–8.59). Conclusion. Considering the paucity of similar studies addressing the impact of arthritis in developing nations, these findings may be applied to similar communities and support better planning of resource allocations to minimize the effects of arthritis among the elderly. (J Rheumatol 2006;33:342-7) Key Indexing Terms:
ARTHRITIS From the Public Health and Ageing Research Group, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and Faculty of Medicine; and the Research Group on Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Supported by the Supporting Agency for Studies and Projects (FINEP), Brazil. Dr. Machado holds a scholarship from CAPES Foundation, Brazil, for a research fellowship. Dr. Barreto, Dr. Passos, and Dr. Lima-Costa hold research grants from the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq). G.P.M. Machado, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Research Fellow, Arthritis Community Research and Evaluation Unit (ACREU), Toronto Western Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; S.M. Barreto, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Research Scientist, Research Group on Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases, Federal University of Minas Gerais; V.M.A. Passos, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Research Scientist, Research Group on Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases, Federal University of Minas Gerais; M.F.F. Lima-Costa, MD, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology, Research Scientist, Public Health and Ageing Research Group, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais. Address reprint requests to Dr. G.P.M. Machado, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Alfredo Balena 190 sl 4070, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil CEP 31130100. E-mail: gmachado@medicina.ufmg.br Accepted for publication August 31, 2005.
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