Health status perception among the elderly residents in L'Aquila (Central Italy) after the 2009 earthquake

OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the health status' perception in relation to the displacement in the over-65-year population of L'Aquila, about three years after the earthquake of April 6th, 2009. DESIGN: a cross-sectional observational study was performed using a structured interview with a questionnaire divided into 36 closed and multiple questions. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: interviews were conducted in the offices of general practitioners and at the Department of prevention vaccinations service. The respondents were 569 elderly, equally represented by gender; 57% was 65-74 years old, 25% was 75-79 years old, and 18% was more than 80 years old. RESULTS: the study showed that the negative perception of health status is significantly associated with delocalization, female gender, more advanced age, low education, and living with a person not belonging to the family unit. Among people who perceive health in a negative way and live in temporary housing, the inability to perform daily activities, and therefore a lower degree of self-sufficiency was detected more frequently. Even the presence of certain chronic degenerative diseases (even if self-reported) contributes to the negative perception. This is associated with a decrease in the ability to perform daily activities. CONCLUSIONS: the living conditions and the traditional determinants of old age negatively affect the perception of health status. Relocation and the absence of infrastructure change everyday life and affect judgment on one's health.