Abstract
Objective
To estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and associated factors in older people from Primary Health Care units in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil.
Method
This was a cross-sectional study conducted with older people registered in Primary Health Care units in Rio Branco, Acre, between 2016 and 2017. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was measured using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and associations were tested with selected variables. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios were calculated with a 95% confidence interval by Poisson regression with robust variance.
Results
The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 74.5%. The most strongly associated factors were perception of insecurity in the place of residence (PR=1.46; 95% CI 1.23-1.74), family income lower than the minimum wage (PR=1.10; 95% CI 1, 01-1.20), and unsatisfactory self-perception of health (PR=1.25; 95% CI 1.14-1.37), adjusted for gender, age, education, work activity, and frailty.
Conclusion
There was a high prevalence of depressive symptoms in the studied population. The identification of associated factors pointed to the socioeconomic and health vulnerability in which older people are in, relating to the conditions associated with depressive symptoms.
Keywords
Depressive Symptoms; Health of the Elderly; Epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies