RESUMO -Segundo a Organização Mundial da Saúde -OMS estima-se que 1,6 milhões de pessoas morrem a cada ano em decorrência da violência sendo considerada uma das principais causas de morbimortalidade no mundo. É fundamental que o atendimento à vítima de traumatismo seja rápido e eficiente com profissionais de saúde capacitados, uma vez que a conduta tomada pode alterar o resultado final. Neste sentido, chama

Objective: Parse through the mental health scale and perceived stress in elderly assisted by basic health units.Method: This is an exploratory study, quantitative, and performed in the period from March to July 2015, in the municipality of João Pessoa/Paraíba in northeastern Brazil, where reach selected 67 elderly persons aged 60 years or more, out of a total of 200 elderly linked to family health strategy and with preserved cognitive capacity. Results:Showed that the majority of the elderly did not submit mental suffering reported low level of perceived stress. Conclusion:We can see that elderly inserted into family and social coexistence have lower level of stress. Among the many disorders that affect the elderly, such as the limitation on motor coordination, difficulty of locomotion and metabolic deficits, mental health needs special attention.