Abstract
Objective: to evaluate the quality of life of the elderly in a municipality in the Sertão Central Cearense. Methods: This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study with a quantitative approach. The research was carried out in a municipality in the state of Ceará, Brazil. Data collection was carried out in March and April 2012 with a sample of 370 elderly men and women. Data were collected through the application of questionnaires, evidenced by the collection of demographics, socioeconomic and clinical profiles. The data were first grouped into strata in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and treated statistically using the program SPSS. Results: The results show a significant difference between the sexes, where the levels of quality for men are 53.35% and for women 49.73%. Conclusion: The responses of this research bring important discussions on domains that influence the quality of life of the elderly and indicate the deficiency of policies and action strategies that ensure improvements in care for the elderly in all their specificities and diversity.