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ARTIGO ARTICLE

793

Fatores determinantes do envelhecimento saudável em idosos residentes em centro urbano: Projeto Epidoso, São Paulo Determinant factors for healthy aging among senior citizens in a large city: the Epidoso Project in São Paulo

Luiz Roberto Ramos

1

1 Departamento de Medicina, Centro de Estudos do Envelhecimento, Universidade Federal de São Paulo. Rua dos Ottonis 731, São Paulo, SP 04025-002, Brasil. [e-mail]

Abstract Population aging leads to an increase in the prevalence of chronic and disabling diseases, as well as a change in the public health paradigm. Diseases diagnosed in the elderly are generally not curable; if not properly treated and monitored over time, they tend to generate complications and sequelae that impair patients’ independence and autonomy. Health is no longer measured by the presence or absence of disease, but by the degree of preservation of functional capacity. Factors for healthy aging with good functional capacity and those which increase the risk of death and disability need to be identified by longitudinal surveys that include the elderly population living in the community. This article presents data from the first followup survey of senior citizens in Brasil, called the Epidoso Project (from “epi” as in “epidemiologic” and “idoso” or “elderly” in Portuguese) implemented since 1991 in the city of São Paulo. The socio-demographic, clinical, and functional characteristics of a cohort of elderly are discussed, with a risk analysis for death and disability, and the implications for health planning are considered. Key words Aging Health; Demographic Aging; Chronic Disease; Longitudinal Studies Resumo Com o envelhecimento populacional, temos um aumento da prevalência de doenças crônicas e incapacitantes e uma mudança de paradigma na saúde pública. As doenças diagnosticadas num indivíduo idoso geralmente não admitem cura e, se não forem devidamente tratadas e acompanhadas ao longo dos anos, tendem a