Salud autopercibida en ancianos jóvenes españoles y portugueses tras la recesión según la Encuesta Europea de Salud: un estudio transversal

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to describe self-perceived health (SPH) in Spanish and Portuguese population aged between 65 and 74 years old and to analyze other associated factors measured in the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) in 2014. DESIGN: Retrospective secondary data analysis from EHIS 2014. SETTING: Community based. PARTICIPANTS: Young seniors, people aged 65-74 years old surveyed and with available data from two countries. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: For each country and sex, SPH, sociodemographic variables, clinical chronic conditions, lifestyles and utilization of health care resources were described. A multiple logistic regression (very good or good SPH versus remaining levels) with robust estimators was used to assess the country effect adjusted by sociodemographic factors, clinical factors and/or lifestyles. RESULTS: Good SPH showed variation by country (52.9% Spain vs. 19% Portugal; P < .001) and gender (44% men vs. 31.3% women; P < .001). Both countries had high prevalence of multimorbidity (64.7% Spain vs. 76.3% Portugal; P < .001) and the distribution of chronic diseases was similar with the only exception of depression (13.2% Spain vs. 20.3% Portugal; P < .001). Regarding individual factors related with good SPH we found Spanish nationality (OR: 4.52; 95% CI: 4.05-5.04), male gender (OR: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.101-2.21), education level, completing primary school (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.24-1.31) or achieving tertiary level (OR: 2.43; 95% CI: 1.14-5.17) and physical activity of two or more days per week (OR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.39-2.5). Factors with a negative impact on SPH were multimorbidity (OR: 0.19; 95% CI: 0.12-0.31) and depression (OR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.25-0.41). DISCUSSION: Good SPH is higher in Spanish young seniors compared to Portuguese. Having higher level of education achieved and practicing regular physical exercise were two most important factors increasing good SPH.