title: Screening for depressive symptoms in older adults in the Family Health Strategy, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
abstract: OBJECTIVE To analyze the prevalence of depression in older adults and associated factors. METHODS Cross-sectional study using a stratified random sample of 621 individuals aged ≥ 60 from 27 family health teams in Porto Alegre, RS, Southern Brazil, between 2010 and 2012. Community health agents measured depression using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Scores of ≥ 6 were considered as depression and between 11 and 15 as severe depression. Poisson regression was used to search for independent associations of sociodemographic and self-perceived health with both depression and its severity. RESULTS The prevalence of depression was 30.6% and was significantly higher in women (35.9% women versus 20.9% men, p < 0.001). The variables independently associated with depression were: female gender (PR = 1.4, 95%CI 1.1;1.8); low education, especially illiteracy (PR = 1.8, 95%CI 1.2;2 6); regular self-rated health (OR = 2.2, 95%CI 1.6;3.0); and poor/very poor self-rated health (PR = 4.0, 95%CI 2.9;5.5). Except for education, the strength of association of these factors increases significantly in severe depression. CONCLUSIONS A high prevalence of depression was observed in the evaluations conducted by community health agents, professionals who are not highly specialized. The findings identified using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale in this way are similar to those in the literature, with depression more associated with low education, female gender and worse self-rated health. From a primary health care strategic point of view, the findings become still more relevant, indicating that community health agents could play an important role in identifying depression in older adults.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Eduardo Lopes
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Nogueira
authors.affiliation: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Leonardo Librelotto
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Sara de Souza
authors.initials: Sde S
authors.lastname: Giacobbo
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Irenio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cataldo Neto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors