Aging and health of the elderly woman from northeastern semiarid

Abstract

Objective: to understand what it is like to grow old in the northeastern semiarid from the perspective of elderly women. Materials and Methods: it was a descriptive and transversal quantitative research, in which the participants were 550 elderly women living in Guanambi - Bahia. Data collection was performed based on the registration of elderly women from the 15 FHUs in the city, through a semi-structured interview with the aid of 3 questionnaires (MEEM, MAN and Situational Diagnosis). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, with univariate and bivariate analysis. The study was approved under the CAAE protocol: 50695415.5.0000.5578. Results: the majority, 292 (54%), were aged between 60 and 75 years old, without a partner (53.8), with less than 08 years of schooling (93.3%), black (54, 4) and with income of up to one minimum wage (60.4%). In addition, 12.5% are still employed and 80.9% are retired. Conclusion: it was noted that elderly women live restricted to closed environments, with no physical activity or leisure, having the home as the only environment, reducing their day to day activities at home. And the number of elderly women living alone is alarming.