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The social and demographic profile, health and social conditions of elderly people aged 80 or more are analyzed in current quantitative, descriptive and transversal study evaluating the socio-demographic profile (12 items), health (15 items) and social conditions (4 items) of 58 elderly people aged 80, through a structured questionnaire with 31 items. Results showed that sample comprised predominantly females (68.96%), widows (62.06%), aged 80-89 years (79.31%), with basic schooling (89.63%) and retired (75.86%). They owned their own house (65.51%); they had children or grandchildren (89.65%); they were Catholics (84.48%); they had a health care plan (58.62%); they featured eye problems (72.41%) and employed corrective devices (72.41%). Most had systemic arterial hypertension (55.17%), they used hypotension drugs (55.17%); they made regular visits to the doctor (63.79%); underwent physiotherapy (53.44%), practiced physical exercises (65.11%) and classified their health status as fair or good (43.10%). The social and demographic profile and the health and social conditions of eighty-year-old people may contribute towards in-depth studies on this category. It is an issue of public health due to the growing population involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical activity is a common practice among the elderly, sometimes used as a way to repair the diseases caused by human aging or in search of a better quality of life. However, this population is not immune to falls. The objective this study was to verify the prevalence of falls in the elderly practicing physical activity. Were evaluated 351 elderly people living in the city of Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil, between August 2011 and September 2012, in places such as public squares and establishments, commercial establishments and a social housing center for the elderly. Participants answered a structured questionnaire that included the characterization of the sociodemographic profile (09 items) and health conditions (09 items), totaling 18 items. In the data analysis, were used the descriptive statistics and the Chi-Square and Pearson's Tests, where it was adopted as significant a p≤0.05. Of the total, only 274 elderly were included. It was observed that 25.9% of the sample fell in the last six months, most at home (73.1%). Still, the occurrence of falls was related to age, smoking, alcohol consumption, visual impairment, associated diseases, use of medication and self-perception of health (p≤0.05). In conclusion, there was an expressive prevalence of falls in the last six months in the elderly practicing physical activity, where the event was most reported in the residences and related to various aspects of health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]