[Assessing the functional ability of a group of elderly people using COOP-WONCA charts]. / Medición de la capacidad funcional, con las láminas COOP-WONCA, en una población anciana.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the functional ability of elderly people and analyse its relationship to the use of services. DESIGN: A crossover study. SETTING: An urban population within the metropolitan area of the Community of Madrid. PARTICIPANTS: A random sample of 300 people over 70, taken from the municipal census. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Functional ability was measured with COOP-WONCA sheets. 25% of the individuals chosen were excluded due to mistakes in the census. Almost half of the elderly people stated that their health was mediocre or poor; half that their physical ability was limited in some important way; and 37% that their frame of mind caused them some or considerable discomfort. Women perceived their health status as poorer than men did. The number of stated chronic health problems and frame of mind were the most important factors for forecasting use of services. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of disturbances in functional ability is high in elderly people. Among the different dimensions of functional ability, frame of mind is that which best forecasts use of primary care clinics.