Anita Liberalesso Neri

Verbal fluency in elderly with and without hypertension and diabetes from the FIBRA study in Ermelino Matarazzo

ABSTRACT. Background: There are few studies on the qualitative variables derived from the animal category verbal fluency test (VF), especially with data originating from low-income samples of community-based studies. Objective: To compare elderly with and without hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM) regarding the total number of animals spoken, number of categories, groups and category switches on the VF test. Methods: We used the database of the FIBRA (Frailty in Brazilian Elderly) community-based study. The variables number of Categories, Groups and Category Switches were created for each participant. The total sample (n = 384) was divided into groups of elderly who reported having HTN, DM, both HTN and DM, or neither of these conditions. Results: There were no significant differences between the groups with and without these chronic diseases for VF total score or for the qualitative variables. Conclusion: Among independent community-dwelling elderly, the qualitative variables derived from the VF animal category may not add information regarding the cognitive profile of elderly with chronic diseases. Total VF score and the qualitative variables Category, Group and Switching did not differentiate elderly with and without HTN and DM.

Association between race, obesity and diabetes in elderly community dwellers: data from the FIBRA Study = Associação entre cor/raça, obesidade e diabetes em idosos da comunidade: dados do Estudo FIBRA = Asociación entre color/raza, obesidad y diabetes, en ancianos de la comunidad: datos del Estudio FIBRA

This study sought to investigate the effect of race on measures of body fat (body mass index - BMI, waist circumference - WC and waist-hip ratio - WHR), as well as its relationship with diabetes, among elderly individuals living in urban areas in seven places in Brazil, according to gender. This is a cross-sectional study carried out with a probabilistic sample comprising 2,566 individuals with 65 years of age or more who participated in the FIBRA Study (Frailty in Elderly Brazilians). We used several self-reported sociodemographic variables (gender, age, race, schooling and family income), anthropometric measures of general (BMI) and abdominal obesity (WC and WHR) and self-reported diabetes. Adjusting for schooling and income, white race was associated with higher WC values (p = 0.001) and WHR (p > 0.001) for male gender, regardless of diabetes status. However, when we considered only diabetic individuals, black race became associated with general (BMI) (p = 0.007) and central obesity (CC) (p > 0.001), only among women.Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar o efeito da cor/raca em medidas indicadoras de adiposidade corporal (indice de massa corporal - IMC, circunferencia de cintura - CC e relacao cintura-quadril - RCQ), bem como sua relacao com o diabetes, em idosos residentes na area urbana de sete localidades brasileiras, conforme o genero. O estudo transversal foi realizado com uma amostra probabilistica composta por 2.566 idosos de 65 anos ou mais, participantes do Estudo FIBRA (Fragilidade em Idosos Brasileiros). Foram utilizadas variaveis sociodemograficas autorrelatadas (genero, idade, cor/raca, escolaridade e renda familiar), medidas antropometricas indicadoras de obesidade geral (IMC) e abdominal (CC e RCQ) e diabetes autorreferida. Ajustando-se para escolaridade e renda, a cor/raca branca associou-se a maiores valores de CC (p = 0,001) e RCQ (p > 0,001), no genero masculino, independentemente do diabetes. Entretanto, ao considerar apenas a amostra de diabeticos, a cor/raca preta passou a associar-se a obesidade geral (IMC) (p = 0,007) e central (CC) (p > 0,001), apenas entre as mulheres.