Chronic diseases in the non-village indigenous population: data from the National Health Survey, 2019

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to characterise the sociodemographic profile of the adult and elderly non-indigenous population of Brazil, as well as to estimate the prevalence of multimorbidity and specific chronic diseases/conditions, and for the most frequent ones, according to gender and age groups. Cross-sectional study with data from indigenous people (aged ≥ 20 years) who took part in the National Health Survey in 2019. The average age was 45.2 years (95% CI: 43.1-47.3), 23.2% were elderly (age ≥ 60 years), and 87.5% lived in urban areas. Around 60% had at least one chronic disease/condition, and the most prevalent were: hypertension (29.3%; 95% CI: 23.7-35.5), chronic spinal diseases/problems (20.6%; 95% CI: 17.3-24.5), hypercholesterolaemia (14.3%; 95% CI: 11.7-17.4), depression (10%; 95% CI: 7.4-13.5) and arthritis/rheumatism (10%; 95% CI: 6.6-14.9). In the elderly, the prevalence of hypertension was around 3.6 times higher than in adults (65% versus 18.1%; p < 0.001), and 28.6% reported chronic spinal diseases/ problems compared to 18.2% of adults (p = 0.019). The study presents unpublished data on the prevalence of chronic diseases/conditions in the non-indigenous population in Brazil, indicating a high prevalence of hypertension, spinal diseases/problems, hypercholesterolaemia, depression and arthritis/rheumatism.

KEYWORDS Indigenous peoples; Health of indigenous peoples; Chronic disease; Health surveys.