Assessment of preventive health behaviors and risk factors in older adults

Abstract

Background: The number of people aged 60 years and older was 6.4% in 2015 and is likely to reach 11.9% by 2030 and 21.1% by 2050 throughout Mongolia. As of 2021, the average life expectancy is 70.71 years, with 66.7 years for men and 76.2 years for women. For that reason, there is a need to develop recommendations to ensure the possibility of creating a healthy lifestyle and behavior for older people by studying and evaluating the current state of the seniors’ lifestyle and behavior in the future. Aim: To study some indicators of the lifestyles and behaviors of the elderly. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted using a cross-sectional study method, and data were gathered by using the WHO standard SAGE (Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health) questionnaire. 950 elderly people in total over 60 years of age were included from the 5 districts of Ulaanbaatar city and 2 provinces of rural areas applying a multi-stage sampling method. Results: In terms of the participant’s age group 60.9% of participants were between the ages of 60 and 69, 29.8% were between the ages of 70 and 79, and 9.4% were over the age of 80. Men made up 38.7% of the participant population, while women made up 61.3%. The frequency of smoking for men was substantially more than that of women and there was no variation in smoking rates by location. Most people who use tobacco were uneducated, whereas seniors graduating at least 10th grade at high school used tobacco less. When asked if they had drunk any alcohol in the previous 12 months, 56.1% reported having done so, compared to 43.9% who had never done so. Conclusion: 1. The use of harmful habits and the level of active physical activity decreases as people get older when comparing preventive behaviors by age and sex. 2. The age of the elderly increases, the use of harmful habits decreases, their active participation decreases, and they are not satisfied with their quality of life and income.