Background: To analyze the quality of life of a group of elderly people enrolled in the Family Health Strategy of the Igapó neighborhood, in the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.Methods: This is a longitudinal study with a quantitative approach.The process of data collection occurred in two different moments. The instruments used to collect data were: "Questionnaire on sociodemographic data" and the "Brazilian Version of the Short Form-36 Quality of Life Questionnaire (SF-36)."Results: It was verified that most of them were women, with low purchasing power and low education level. There was a predominance of unmarried elderly individuals who did not perform work activities. Higher scores were identified for the emotional, physical and mental domains. In the first collection, lower scores regarding the general state of health and pain were observed. There were better percentages of improvement in the areas of General Health Status, Body Pain and Social Function and Physical Health dimension. The activities developed in the coexistence group together with the elderly were classified as educational, physical/functional and commemorative. Conclusion:This study showed higher scores in the physical, functional and mental aspects, where the autonomy of the elderly is directly related, reflecting an active aging favoring a better quality of life.

Background: Among the countless diseases that affect the world population, malnutrition has stood out in several social and demographic contexts; among them, there has been an exponential progression in elderly people, a population group that presents a strong tendency to develop depression and malnutrition. Data from the World Health Organization show that the worldwide prevalence of depressive disorders among elderly people is in the range of 10 to 20%. Similarly, the prevalence of depression, in turn, combined with chronic diseases, accounts for 50% of premature mortality.Objective: To compare the nutritional status and the level of depressive symptoms and to evaluate the correlation between both aspects in Brazilian and Portuguese elderly people assisted in Primary Health Care (PHC).Methods: A cross-sectional, comparative study with a quantitative approach conducted among PHC elderly people in Brazil and Portugal. The sociodemographic and health questionnaire, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression scale (GDS-15) and Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) were used.Results: We included 160 participants (110 Brazilians and 50 Portuguese) in the study. In this sample, 81.9% of participants had a risk of malnutrition or malnutrition and 45.0% of participants had mild depressive symptoms. There was a significant association and correlation in Brazil with the presence of a risk of malnutrition and mild symptoms of depression. Portugal also demonstrated a significant association, however, for the chance of not presenting alterations.Conclusion: Our research showed that the risk of malnutrition or the presence of malnutrition was associated with the presence of depressive symptoms in the studied sample. In the intergroup comparison, among Brazilians, those at risk of malnutrition were more likely to have changes associated with depression, while for participants in Portugal, the odds ratio tended to show no changes, as the majority were individuals without nutritional or depressive demands. Screening and prevention measures should be emphasized in PHC to avoid the progression of symptoms in order to refer patients with medium and high complexity since this segment of the public is susceptible to malnutrition and depression.

Objective: to analyze the association between the socio-demographic and health aspects to the quality of life (QOL) of elderly peoplelinked to the ESF. Methods: this is an analytical, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, carried out in two communities ascribed to the Family Health Strategy (ESF) of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, between December 2015 and March 2016. The data collection instruments were: a socio-demographic and pain characteristics questionnaire; Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Medical Outcomes Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36 Brazilian version). A descriptive and inferential analysis with 5.0% significance levelwere performed. The study followed the ethical precepts of research. Results: In this age group studied, there is a significant association between younger elderly with the domains of functional capacity (Average 67.2 and ρ-value 0.032), emotional health presented average 82.0 (ρ-value 0.040) and physical size (Average 51.4 and ρ-value 0.042). Among the aspects of health and QOL there was a statistical significance between the variable "pain in the last week", with the absence of pain associated with functional capacity (Average 76.7 and ρ-value 0.013) and emotional health (Average 96.

Background: To characterize the demands of health and quality of life of elderly people monitored in the primary care of Rio Grande do Norte/Brazil. Methods and Findings:This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study of a quantitative approach with elderly patients monitored by the primary care. The sample was given for convenience, obtaining 120 participants. The research was conducted through an interview with theapplication of the following questionnaires: Mini Mental State Examination, Socio-demographic Data and Pain Characteristics, ShortForm-36, Mini Nutritional Assessment, the primary activities of daily living, the instrumental activities of daily living, Prism 7 and the Geriatric Depression Scale. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS statistical program, in which descriptive and association tests were used. Results:The main demands were related to functionality, followed by nutritional and geriatric depression. The quality of life presented worse results in the domain of general health status and better scores in the emotional and mental health aspects. Regarding the dimensions, the physical health obtained aworse score. Conclusion:Based on the found characterization of the health demands, it is suggested to perform other studies with the same population, enabling to plan and implementing a multidimensional intervention and improving the quality of life of the elderly people.