Situation of the Elderly Living Alone: Morbidity and Services Provided from the Field of Primary Health Care of Gran Canaria

• Published in: Healthcare (Basel) 2022-09, Vol.10 (10), p.1861
• Main Authors: Díaz-González, Candelaria de la Merced, Nuez-Herrera, Lidia Esther, de la Rosa-Hormiga, Milagros, Cabeza-Mora, Antonio, Gutiérrez-Barroso, Josué
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adjusted Morbidity Groups; Age; Aged; Aging; Caregivers; Comorbidity; Data analysis; Demographic aspects; elderly adults; Electronic health records; Health aspects; Households; Life expectancy; Living alone; Morbidity; Older people; Primary care; Primary health care; Social aspects; Sociodemographics
• ISSN: 2227-9032; 2227-9032
• DOI: 10.3390/healthcare10101861

The elderly suffer a greater number of health problems and have greater need for assistance and care. (1) Background: to determine the profile of the elderly who live alone, identified according to the Primary Care Health Record of Gran Canaria, and to analyze the sociodemographic data of the target population and determine the characteristics related to morbidity. (2) Methods: descriptive, prospective, cross-sectional study carried out in the Primary Health Care Management of Gran Canaria. The study population was all adults over 65 years of age living alone. The instrument used was the Drago-Electronic Health Record. Data analysis was carried out using RStudio version 1.1.447 software, and descriptive analysis and inferential analysis were carried out using the Chi-square values, T-test for independent samples, and ANOVA. (3) Results: The sample amounted to 8679 subjects, predominantly female sex (86.14%) and with a mean age of 79.4 years. Of the sample, 6.4% lived alone. Based on the classification by Adjusted Morbidity Groups (AMG), subjects with “moderate complications” predominated at 45.5%. (4) Conclusions: It is necessary to implement this type of stratification tool, which allows interventions to be carried out in elderly people at risk.