Need for public health policies in the elderly population: indicators of aging in a Social Security Institute in Mexico

Introduction An integral diagnosis of population contemplates within its components the population demographic analysis that is indispensable in the formulation of public policies. Population policy has a clearly transversal nature, since all actions in the economic, social, political, cultural, geographical, and obviously, demographic fields, have direct or indirect repercussions on it. Objectives To determine the population dynamics and the global growth of the older adult population (OAP) of 60 years and more. Materials and methods Cross-sectional, retrospective study. The information was obtained from the statistical yearbooks of the institute of security and social services of state workers, Mexico (1999-2015). Several demographic ageing indicators were analyzed. Results There was a constant increase in percentage points in the proportion of OAP, index of ageing, demographic dependency ratio of old age, global index of dependence, index of dependence of old people, and index of the active population structure (6, 19.2, 15.5, 8.5, 8.2 and 31.2%, respectively). The indicator global index of dependence and masculinity showed a decrease (0.6 and 3.1%, respectively). Conclusions Our data provide evidence that suggests modifying and generating public policies according to OAP.