BACKGROUND:

The environmental, educational, social and health factors must be optimal for successful aging.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the characteristics involved in the process of successful aging in a group of medical specialists in Internal Medicine.

MATERIAL AND METHOD:

A comparative cross-sectional study was carried out through a survey of internists in the National Congress of the College of Internal Medicine 2016. A questionnaire was applied of 33 questions to evaluate socio-demographic factors, health, nutrition, coexistence, economy and spirituality. The descriptive analysis included frequencies and percentages; the bivariate analysis was performed with X2, considering a value of p < 0.05 statistically significant.

RESULTS:

We analyzed 282 questionnaires, the average age of the participants was 42.7 ± 12.8 years, 161 (57%) were men. The self-report of regular health status was 38%, with chronic-degenerative diseases 61%, smoking in 8% and alcohol consumption 24% and sedentary lifestyle in 64%. Concerning the nutritional aspects the consumption in adequate proportion of fruits and vegetables was 41%, protein 68% and close to 50% in the case of water.

CONCLUSIONS:

There is a need for training in preventive health, economic and social areas, as well as for investigating relevant factors that may impact in the future on the aging of the population group of this study.

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