Objective

To assess the reliability of anthropometric and physiological indicators for the development of a health index for the senior population.

Methods

A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted with a sample of 63 senior men and women participating in the Movimenta Cruz das Almas Project, of the Family Health Program (PSF in Portuguese) in Cruz das Almas, Bahia (Brazil). The age of the sample was equal to or greater than 60 years, and included 58 females and five males. A multivariate statistical cluster analysis was performed and the Spearman's rho was used to determine the intensity of the association. Finally, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to measure scores at the ordinal level (p<0.05).

Results

The individuals included in the sample had a mean age of 64.29±4.55 years. Most of them were in the pre-elderly group (61.90 %), followed by young elders (26.37 %), middle aged elders (10.47 %) and advanced age seniors (1.26 %). The statistical cluster analysis seemed to be feasible for identifying and validating health indexes for the elderly. When determining the degree of correlation between the variables, the Spearman's test (p=0.0188) showed a statistically significant correlation, while the Kruskal-Wallis test (p=0.0018) found a highly significant correlation (H=15.0230).

Conclusion

Results point to the efficiency and reliability of anthropometric and physiological variables for the classification of indicators in the development of health indexes.