Prevalência e fatores associados à depressão em idosos do município de Cuiabá-MT

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of depression in the city of Cuiabá-MT elderly, analyzing which social and physical factors are associated with this outcome. It used the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) to assess the presence of depressive symptoms in the elderly. The other variables were socioeconomic factors, presence of chronic diseases, level of dependence for basic and instrumental activities of daily living through the Katz Index and Lawton Scale, presence of falls by the scale of self-efficacy for falls (FES-I), cognitive evaluation by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and physical and functional tests Five step test and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). This study is a subproject of Rede FIBRA, a multicenter, multidisciplinary property, population-based, in order to investigate the characteristics and prevalence of biological syndrome of frailty in the elderly. Had been evaluated 388 elderly people, aged over 65 years, of both sexes, between March 2009 and March 2010, residents in Cuiabá-MT. Through statistical analysis, it was observed that about 40% of seniors with depressive symptoms, which were significantly associated with: having low education, have partial or total dependence in basic and instrumental activities of daily living, presence of five or more chronic diseases, low physical performance, have suffered falls in the last year, have visual problems and sleep. Thus we observe high prevalence of depression in the sample, which is often underdiagnosed and untreated, increasing the chances of aggravation of the disease, such as reducing independence, cognitive deficits and suicide.