Associação da depressão com as características sociodemográficas, qualidade do sono e hábitos de vida em idosos do Nordeste brasileiro: estudo seccional de base populacional

Abstract

Introduction: Depressive disorders can be defined as episodes of depressed mood or loss of interest and pleasure in nearly all activities. Depression is considered a major mental disorder in the elderly, and may be related to quality of sleep and living habits as well as being influenced by sociodemographic factors. Objective: To determine the prevalence of depression among the elderly in the north-east of Brazil, and the relationship between the condition and socio-demographic profile, quality of sleep and living habits. Method: An epidemiological cross-sectional study was performed of the elderly population of the urban area of Campina Grande, Paraiba. The dependent variable presence of depression and the independent variables sociodemographic aspects, sleep quality, and living habits were investigated. Estimates of the prevalence of the variables were obtained and association measured using Poisson Regression. A 5% significance level was adopted for the estimates. Results: The study included 168 elderly patients with a mean age of 72.3 (±7.8) years, most of whom, 122 (72.6%), were women. Depression was identified in 72 elderly persons (42.9%). Elderly women were twice as associated with depression (PR=2.26) as men. A subjective quality of sleep of very good (PR=0.34), medium/high risk of sleep disturbance (PR = 4.08), taking sleeping medications once or twice (PR=5.21) and three times or more (PR=8.69) a week, daytime dysfunction once or twice (PR=14.40) and three times or more (PR=27) a week and poor quality of sleep on the Pittsburgh index were associated with depression in bivariate analysis, although there was no relationship following multivariable adjustment. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression was high in the studied population, being noticeably more frequent among elderly woman. However, it was not possible to detect an association between depression and living habits and sleep quality.

Prevalence of Geriatric Depression and Alexithymia and their association with sociodemographic characteristics in a sample of elderly persons living in Buenos Aires, Argentina

“…Thus, women presented higher levels of Geriatric Depression than men (29.6% and 6.2%, respectively). These results coincide with those of Lopes et al 22 , who highlighted a higher frequency of Depression among older adult women. Similarly, Matud et al 29 , observed that levels of depression remained stable throughout the life cycle of women, until they became senior citizens, when there was a notable increase.…”

“…This finding coincides with other prevalence studies carried out in recent years, where the increase of these symptoms based on age was identified 6,21,22 . The World Health Organization (WHO) 23 , states that the greatest occurrence of Depression occurs in adults over 65 years old, and highlights the complexity of performing a correct differential diagnosis.…”

“…Similarly, Matud et al 29 , observed that levels of depression remained stable throughout the life cycle of women, until they became senior citizens, when there was a notable increase. Although gender differences have traditionally been analyzed as a consequence of constitutional, genetic and/or endocrine factors, in recent decades the predominance of socio-cultural variables, such as those that condition the way in which men and women manifest and cope with psychological suffering, have been highlighted 22 .…”

Depressive Symptoms in Elderly People / Sintomas Depressivos em Grupos de Terceira Idade

“…A study performed in the Northeastern region of Brazil, which aimed to estimating the prevalence of depression among the elderly, pointed out a higher proportion of younger women with lower education levels, and women showed depressive symptoms twice as often than men, 12 which is consistent with the study's findings. The higher prevalence of females may be related to a greater number of females in society, and their longer life expectancy.…”

Impacto Do Caça Palavra Na Atividade Mental De Idosos

“…Isso se assemelha com outros estudos. Estes autores justificaram os achados ao fato de que as mulheres culturalmente se dedicam mais ao cuidado com a saúde (OLIVEIRA et al, 2015;ANDRADE et al, 2015;LOPES et al, 2015;GRDEN et al, 2016;MOREIRA et al, 2016). Outro aspecto importante que justifica é de que as idosas apresentam uma expectativa de vida cerca de sete anos a mais do que os idosos (BECKERT et al, 2012).…”