índice de vulnerabilidad de los adultos mayores: Medellín, Barranquilla y Pasto

Abstract

Introduction: Vulnerability can be constituted as the lack of material and immaterial resources, which prevents the use of opportunities and methods of life. The presence of these welfare resources and avoids the deterioration of the quality of life. Objective: Build an index of vulnerability with the characteristics of the physical, human, social and functional capitals of adults in three cities of Colombia in the year 2016 and determine the factors that contribute most to this condition. Materials and methods: A transversal study; with primary information source, with 1514 surveys applied to people aged 60 years and over in Medellín, Barranquilla and Pasto. For the construction of the vulnerability index, factorial analysis was used, with Varimax rotation and principal component method. Results: The conditions that lead to a person's vulnerability are related to human capital mainly (quality of life, mental health and habits). The other capitals contribute to a single component as follows: physical capital (occupation); Social capital (accompaniment) and functional capital (functional independence). The vulnerability is greater in the residents of Pasto. The factors associated with vulnerability were: city of residence, sex, educational level and role that occupies in the home. Conclusion: The vulnerability of the elderly person is explained in 58.55%, by the use of time, functional independence and subjective well-being. These findings provide elements for the improvement of the quality of life, mainly in functional capacity to maintain independence functional as long as possible, being occupied and strengthening mental health, avoiding the risks of depression, anxiety, deterioration Cognitive and have deleterious habits.