QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE FACE OF DEPRESSION AMONG OLDER PEOPLE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN BRAZIL AND PORTUGAL
Geriatrics; Quality of Life; Functional Status; Depression; Primary Health Care;
Objective: To analyze and compare the association of depression levels with Quality of Life (QoL) among older people Primary Health Care (PHC) users in Brazil and Portugal. Method: This was a cross-sectional study conducted with older people PHC. The Medical Outcomes Short-Form Health QoL (SF-36) instrument was used to measure QoL, and the Beck Depression Inventory was used to evaluate depression. We grouped the depression level variables into “Absent/Mild” and “Moderate/Severe” and tested their association with the categorical variables of QoL (“Better QoL” and “Worse QoL”). Results: The total sample was 150 participants (Brazil n= 100 and Portugal n= 50). Each group results in the subcategory of absent/mild depression (n= 129) indicated better QoL in Portugal in physical role functioning (p = 0.027/OR= 2.768), physical functioning (p <0.001/OR= 5.864) and physical health dimension (p = 0.002/OR= 3.752). The binary logistic regression analysis highlighted the domains social functioning (Exp (β) = 5.58/CI for 95% = 1.23-25.25/ p=0.025) and the mental health (Exp (β) = 2.76/CI for 95% = 1.10-6.94/ p=0.030 Conclusions: was an association between better assessments of the physical and functional aspects of QoL and lower levels of depression, in which we could highlight those aspects related to physical health and functionality. Among the groups studied, Portugal had better QoL evaluations than Brazil. However, none of the groups overlapped the other in levels of depression.