["Quality of life" of the elderly population: a survey to evaluate elderly people's self -perceived health in 11 Italian regions (Argento Study, 2002).].

Self-perception of health influences the quality of life of the elderly. In order to identify the more vulnerable elderly and guide interventions to improve health in this population group, we evaluated self-perceived health of elderly people through a set of 4 questions called the "Healthy Days Measures", which were incorporated into the Argento Study. The latter is a study performed to evaluate the health status of the elderly population in 11 Italian regions (2002). Methods. Following cluster sampling, 2,369 elderly subjects (>64 years) were interviewed at home, by trained personnel, through a standardized questionnaire. Self-rated health (on a scale from poor to excellent) was estimated, as well as the average number of days during the previous month when physical or mental health was not good and the number of activity limitation days. Multivariate analysis was performed using Sudaan software and by considering the following outcomes: self-perceived health, physical or mental problems or activity limitations for more than 1 day. Prevalence rates by gender, age, civil status, education level, home situation, place of residence, chronic diseases, dependence on a caregiver, sedentariness and social isolation, were calculated. Results. 34.7% of interviewed subjects rated their health as good to excellent. A significantly lower proportion of women, older subjects (>75 years), those with a lower education level, those residing in southern Italy, those suffering from chronic illnesses, those dependent on a caregiver, and socially isolated or sedentary subjects rated their health favorably. The mean number of physically and mentally unhealthy days (summary index) was estimated to be 11.3 per month. Multivariate analysis showed that female gender was significantly associated with all outcomes considered; age and education level did not show any significant associations with the outcomes considered; depression was significantly associated with self-rated health and with number of mentally unhealthy days; physical dependence and sedentariness were associated with an increased risk for all outcomes, especially activity limitation days. Conclusions. These results suggest that depression, physical dependence and sedentariness influence self-perceived health more so than socio-demographic characteristics. Public Health may have a relevant role in promoting and guiding interventions to prevent these factors in the elderly. The introduction of Healthy Days measures in health surveillance systems may be an important public health tool for monitoring perceived health status and in intervention planning and evaluation at both the national and local levels.