The increase in the elderly population demands major changes in health care models for detecting and predicting diseases which seize the elderly whose health care demands a higher concern considering that most of them, 80% at least, have one chronic disease. In quest for an adequate health care for the elderly, this study - marked by an exploring and cross-sectional character - decided to apply a short Veras questionnaire for an intentional sample of 103 elderly people which used the services on a typical week in two medical facilities from the County of João Neiva (ES). One is in the rural area (a health family team from the District of Acioli) and another one in the urban area (which cares for spontaneous and scheduled patients). This protocol allows for a quick evaluation of the physical conditions of the patient in different groups at risk and frailty levels which they are subjected to. The high risk for the "frailty groups" in João Neiva is superior to that of the rural area (54,6%) when compared to the urban area (42,4%). The observed factors of risk which turned out to be more important for predicting diseases were gender, age, self-perception of health and hospital admissions in the last twelve months previous to the interview - tools used to classify the elderly in different frailty groups. It's suggested to test the validity of the method in a prospective study, with a higher sample.
Elderly population; Predicting diseases; Public health; Frailty; Family health
