Quality of life in community-dwelling elderly people with functional, nutritional and mental impairment: analysis of the association between Brazil and Portugal
Aged; Quality of life; Functional status; Nutritional assessment; depression; Primary health care
This study aimed to compare the association of QoL with impaired functionality, nutritional status and depressive symptoms among elderly people treated at PHC in Brazil and Portugal. This is a cross-sectional, comparative study with a quantitative approach, carried out in PHC in Brazil and Portugal, between 2017 and 2018. Our study hypothesis was that there is an association between QOL scores and impairment of functionality, nutritional status and depressive symptoms in Brazilian and Portuguese elderly treated at PHC. The data were tabulated and organized into tables and databases using the Microsoft Excel 2016 program and, for the statistical analysis, we used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 20.0. The results indicate that the QOL of the elderly was associated with functional, nutritional and depressive impairment, especially when physical, mental, social aspects and those related to their perception of general well-being were evaluated. Comparing the groups studied, we observed that the one from Brazil had lower scores in the functional and nutritional assessment, while the one from Portugal had a lower assessment in relation to depression.