Prevalência de doenças crônicas e sintomas depressivos autorreferidos por idosos frequentadores de um centro de convivência em Itaqui/RS

Abstract

The progressive aging of the population has been associated with increase in the occurrence of chronic diseases in the aged population, leading to the use of several drugs, depression, and consequently, a greater demand for basic health services. Considering the above, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of chronic diseases and depressive symptoms self-reported by elderly goers of a community center. Therefore, we performed a cross-sectional study with 82 elderly of both genders, goers a community center in Itaqui/RS. Questionnaires containing sociodemographic and clinical information and the Geriatric Depression Scale for assessing depressive symptoms were applied to collect the data. Quantitative data were presented as mean and standard deviation while categorical data were presented as absolute and relative frequency. In this study, it became clear that there was a higher prevalence of females, in that 91.5% (n=75) of the interviewees were women, 52.5% (n= 43) considered non-white, and the average age was 69.16 ± 5.7 years. In relation to the diseases reported, it was found that the most prevalent were hypertension (63.4%), spinal disease (53.7%) and arthritis / rheumatism (42.7%). Among the interviewees, 72 subjects were able to report the number of drugs they consume daily, in that 11 (15.3%) said they did not use any medication, 46 elderly (63.9%) reported using 1-4 drugs a day and 15 (20.8%) reported using 5 or more. Regarding the results of the Geriatric Depression Scale score, 82.9% had depressive symptoms and 17.1% had some type of depression, in that 15.9% were classified as mild or moderate depression and 1.2 % classified with severe depression. Thus, the results of this study reinforce the importance of a systematic and resolute health monitoring in the period of growing old, in order to reduce the risk of clinical events and self-medication, contributing to increase the quality and life expectancy.