Sociodemographic Conditions and Health Profile in the Indigenous Elderly of the Department of Nariño

Abstract

Introduction: In Latin America, ethnicity is a critical determinant of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. This is a situation of double vulnerability, since it is a population group that requires differential attention. The present study determines the socio-demographic factors and health profile in a group of indigenous older adults. Materials and methods: The paper presents an analytical study of transversal descriptive type, with a convenience sample of 518 indigenous outpatients from the Exprovince of Obando Nariño, Colombia. Through a personal survey, sociodemographic and medical background data were collected, the nutritional assessment was performed with the Mininutritional scale, for the cognitive evaluation the Minimental questionnaire was used, as well as the Yesavage test for depressive symptoms. Finally, functional capacity was measured through Barthel’s index and Lawton’s and Brody’s scale. Regarding the statistical analysis, the latent class analysis approach was used to identify subgroups or classes according to comorbidity patterns. Results: 46.7% are female, 40.2% are illiterate, 63.5% are married, 91.7 % live in rural areas, and 53.43 % have no income. Arthritis occurs in 47.7 %, followed by Cataracts (23%), (26%) evidence nutritional risk, (65%) depressive symptomatology, (54%) cognitive impairment, and functional dependency presents (35 %). The analysis of latent classes showed the predominance of comorbidity by 55 %. Conclusion: Poor sociodemographic and health conditions prevail in the population of indigenous older adults with a highest incidence than in other age groups.