Associated Factors and Use of Health Services by Elderly Men in Northeast Brazil

Abstract

The objective of the research was to analyze the factors associated with the use of health services by elderly men in the Northeast region of Brazil. Cross-sectional analytical study with a secondary database of elderly men (n = 3238). The dependent variable was composed of the profiles of the use of health services and the independent variables were factors of predisposition, capacity, and health need. The statistical association and effect were performed using the Rao-Scott test with p < 0.05 and multinomial logistic regression. Elderly men with worse social indicators had a risk effect for using medium/high complexity services and those who had better health indicators were associated with sporadic medical appointment, revealing that health care for elderly men is centered on curative and rehabilitative care and that the use of health services is associated with the worst social indicators.