Factors Associated With Good Intrinsic Capacity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Intrinsic capacity (IC) is defined as the set of individual physical and mental abilities, the preservation of which will influence functional skills throughout aging. Therefore, it is important that its assessment be incorporated into healthcare services to support the adoption of preventive approaches in the field of gerontology. This study aimed to evaluete the factors associated with good intrinsic capacity (IC) among community-dwelling older adults participating in social groups in Brazil. This is a cross-sectional study that assessed the 5 domains of IC, using validated instruments, and analyzed the association of the total IC score with sociodemographic data, health conditions, history of falls, mobility in the living space and balance. 170 individuals aged 72.3 (±8.0) years participated in the study, mostly female. Half of the subjects had preserved IC, who showed better performance in all domains. The factors negatively associated with IC were an income below the minimum wage (OR 0.026 [0.002-0.296]) and number of comorbidities (OR 0.691 [0.536-0.890]), while the number of surgeries (OR 1.326 [1.058-1.661]) and good balance (OR 1.417 [1.216-1.651]) were positively associated with IC. These results point to specific strategies to address the demands of the population in the pursuit of IC preservation.