Association between sociodemographic characteristics and depressive symptoms in hospitalized elderly

Abstract

Objective: to describe the sociodemographic characteristics associated with depressive symptoms in hospitalized elderly. Methods: cross-sectional study carried out in a public teaching hospital. The sample was composed of 96 individuals aged ≥60 years, hospitalized in a clinical and surgical unit. The data collection was performed through a semi-structured interview with the instrument Geriatric Depression Scale. The variables were described through frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. The Fisher's exact test was used to assess the association with depressive symptoms. Results: a total of 45.8% of the elderly presented mild to moderate depressive symptoms and 1.0% had severe symptoms. There was a predominance of women, between 60 and 79 years old, living with a partner, with low level of education (one to seven years of schooling), Catholics, retirees or pensioners, and with a family income of up to three minimum wages. Conclusion: the labor situation presented a statistically significant association with depressive symptoms in the hospitalized elderly. Descriptors: Depression; Aged; Hospitals, General.Objetivo: descrever as características sociodemográficas associadas a sintomas depressivos em idosos hospitalizados. Métodos: estudo transversal realizado em hospital público de ensino. Amostra de 96 indivíduos com idade ≥60 anos, internados em unidade clínica e cirúrgica. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de entrevista semiestruturada com o instrumento Geriatric Depression Scale. As variáveis foram descritas por frequências, porcentagem, média e desvio padrão. Para avaliar a associação com os sintomas depressivos foi utilizado o teste Exato de Fisher. Resultados: 45,8% dos idosos apresentaram sintomas depressivos leves a moderados e 1,0% sintomas graves. Houve predominância de mulheres, idade entre 60 e 79 anos, com companheiro, baixa escolaridade (um a sete anos de estudo), religião católica, aposentados ou pensionistas e renda familiar de até três salários mínimos. Conclusão: a situação trabalhista apresentou associação estatisticamente significante com sintomas depressivos em idosos hospitalizados.

Quality of Life of Hospitalized Octogenarians

“…The findings of this study related to the socio-demographic characteristics and support network of the octogenarians corroborate with a study carried out aimed at identifying the profile of healthy aging of octogenarian Brazilian elderly people in the city of Sete Lagoas/MG, in which age ranged from 80 to 108 years old, with predominance of females, widows, illiterates, retirees, family income between one and three minimum wages, and with family members as a social network. 8 In another study with elderly people hospitalized in a public hospital in the city of Uberaba/ MG (MG), the most affected domains of QOL questionnaires were physical, autonomy, and social participation. A partially similar result was found in this study, in which the domains more compromised in the octogenarians were physical and autonomy.…”