Depressão em idosos assistidos em Unidades Básicas de Saúde.

Abstract

It is noticed that the aging process has been present and growing, a fact that has been changing the demographics worldwide. The depression parallel to the advancing age has also increased and is present in everyday life of the elderly. The isolation, difficulty in relationships with others may contribute to the development of a depressive disorder. Therefore, we seek to identify the prevalence of depressive disorder in the elderly enrolled in Family Health Strategies, tracing the socio-demographic profile and characterizing the elderly with signs and symptoms of depressive disorder. The study is part of the project entitled "Factors Associated with Functional Independence of the Elderly," was conducted from April 2011 to June 2012, 15 Basic Health Units, the city of Cajazeiras - PB, with 376 seniors at such plants. We respected the ethical, according to Resolution No. 196/96, was approved by the Ethics and Research of the Federal University of Campina Grande - University Hospital Alcides Carneiro. Data were collected through two instruments: a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Geriatric Depression Scale short version (EDG), compressed and converted into graphs and tables with the help of Microsoft Excel. According to the results 41% of seniors have suspected depression. Of these, it was observed that 42.9% are aged 60- 69 years, and 35.1% between 70-79 years, 84% live in urban areas and 16% in rural areas, 49.3% married and 33 8% widowed, 44.1% live without a spouse, but with the presence of other family members, 31.2% of those living with a spouse and other family members, most co-habiting with one to five people. Referring to the profession, it was found that 41.6% had home activities as a profession and 31.2% were farmers. All reported having any current occupation, referring are retired and exercise activities at home, with 71.4% and 12.3%, respectively. Health all reported the presence of non-communicable chronic diseases, among them depression, in which 24% of subjects reported use of antidepressants. In general, one can conclude that specific actions are needed to care for the elderly, as well as the detection of depression in this age group, aiming to improve the quality of life of this population.