Adherence of older people to a multidimensional program to improve health-related quality of life and functional capacity

Background: The adherence of the elderly to therapeutic programs, either they are pharmacological or psychosocial, is generally low. Objective: Identifying predictive variables of adherence of a social program from elderly with multifunctional independence or mild dependence. Method: Prospective longitudinal design with 104 elderly participants in a social program. The inclusion criteria were: to participate in a social program for elderly, present functional independence or mild dependence, without depression clinically confirmed. Descriptive analyzes were performed with the study variables in addition to hypothesis testing and linear and logistic regression models to identify predictive variables of adherence. Results: 22% of the participants met the minimum adherence, observing better compliance in younger people (p = 0.004), among those who had a better Health-Related Quality of Life (p = 0.036) and better health literacy levels (p = 0.017). According to a linear regression model, the variables associated with adherence were: social program of origin (OR = 5,122), perception of social support (OR = 1,170), cognitive status (OR = 2,537). Conclusion: The level of adherence of the older people of the study can be evaluated as low, which is consistent with the findings of the specialized literature. The variables identified with predictive capacity on adherence were social program of origin, a condition that can be incorporated into the design of the interventions in order to facilitate territorial equity. It is also important to highlight the importance of health literacy and the risk of dysphagia in the level of adherence.