Abstract
Objective: To verify the influence of functional capacity and the presence of chronic diseases not transmissible (CDNT) on the self-perception of the health of elderly women in a long-term institution for the elderly (ILPI) in the city of Recife/PE, Brazil. Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study of 22 elderly women. The research was divided into three stages: I- Semi-structured interview using sessions I, II, V and VI of the Brazil Old Age Shedule questionnaire (BOAS); II- Evaluation of functional capacity by Functional Independence Measure (MIF); III- Analysis of medical records for verification of CDNT. Statistical analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS software version 20.0, adopting a statistical significance of p<0.05. Study approved under CAAE 67687317.1.0000.5640. Results: The Spearman test showed a correlation of r= -0.733; p=0.0001 between MIF scores and self-rated health categorized as "Good" and "Bad", that is, poor health is associated with lower MIF scores (Mann-Whitney test p=0.001). In the CDNT and self-perception of health, the Spearman test showed a correlation of r= 0.670; p=0.001, which means that poor self-rated health evaluation by elderly women is associated with a higher incidence of CDNT (Mann-Whitney test p=0.001). Conclusion: The elderly with chronic diseases and functional loss tend to perceive health negatively.