Study of Lifestyle and Health Status of Elderly People from Sofia City, Sofia District and City of Shumen

The demographic characteristics of the population in Bulgaria over the last 30 years show a lasting negative trend in the indicators of births, deaths and natural growth, as well as aging of the population. The main goal of the research is to study the relationship between the lifestyle and the health status of the elderly in Bulgaria. A survey was conducted of 462 persons over the age of 60 from several regions of Bulgaria, of which 180 men and 282 women. Documentary method, conceptual analysis, sociological/survey method and statistical methods were used. Results are summarized by absolute frequencies (n) and relative frequencies (%). A chi-square test was applied to examine the relationship between descriptive data with two or more categories. The threshold level of significance adopted was α = 0.05. The specialized statistical package SPSS version 20.0 was used to process the research data. The results show a correlation between lifestyle and the incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases, disability and functional capacity of the elderly. Major findings were made: 73.84% of the elderly suffer from chronic diseases. There is a relationship between having a chronic illness and self-reported health and quality of life and between health rating and age. Age strongly influences the quality of life of the elderly in Bulgaria. Physical health disorders lead to limitation of social activity of the elderly. Older people living in social institutions suffer more often from emotional problems (anxiety, depression and irritability) than older people living in a family setting. Adding health to the years and creating a more favorable living environment for the elderly allows them to remain independent and active as long as possible and to maintain their functional ability, in order to achieve quality of life with increasing age.