ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS, QUALITY OF LIFE AND DEPRESSION IN ELDERLY IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE: A CROSS-CROSS STUDY IN BRAZIL AND PORTUGAL
Depression, Quality of Life, Elderly Health, Health Promotion, Primary Health Care.
Aging is growing at an accelerated pace in the world, which increases the vulnerability of these people and can aggravate pre-existing pathological conditions. Depression interferes with quality of life (QoL), generating greater demand for health services, low adherence to treatment, neglect of self-care and greater propensity for suicide. This research aimed to verify the association between socioeconomic factors, depression and the quality of life of elderly people assisted in Primary Health Care in Brazil and Portugal. The methodology adopted consisted of a comparative, cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, which evaluated 150 elderly people, 100 in Brazil and 50 in Portugal, using the instruments: Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) and the Medical Outcomes Short-Form Health Survey ( SF-36). In both countries, the project was approved by the respective Research Ethics Committees. The treatment and tabulation of data in tables was performed using Microsoft® Excel 2016 and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The study resulted in the article submitted to the journal “Plos One”. It was observed that there was an association of socioeconomic factors with the SF-36 and the GDS-15, demonstrating, in both countries, that the highest QoL percentiles are associated with the absence of depression and that, with the increase in depressive symptoms, QoL was reduced, with a predominance of females and individuals aged between 65 and 80 years. However, Portugal had better QoL scores compared to Brazil. This suggests that there are other studies permeated by interventions or analyzes focusing on strategies aimed at these aspects and at promoting health for this target audience, reducing clinical complications.