RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To establish association between cognitive and functional impairment with economic, social and demographic factors, chronic disease and multidrug therapy in the aged patient. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2002 with 422 individuals 60 years old and older. A questionnaire for exploring social and economic conditions was applied. Folsteins' mini-mental exam and Katz, Lawton and Bronfman instruments were also applied. A bivariate analysis was performed to select variables for logistic regression (p = 0.20 in a chi(2)). Adjusted odds ratios were used to estimate association. RESULTS: There were 422 individuals interviewed, 178 were male and 244 female, with a mean age of 68 years. The factors associated with cognitive impairment were stroke, female gender, and social and economic level. For daily activities diabetes mellitus 2 and for daily instrumental activities the associations were female gender, visual impairment and multi-drug therapy, all with p < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Some factors can prevent the presence of cognitive and functional impairment in the elderly.