RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEALTH SELF-ANALYSIS AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN ELDERLY USERS OF BASIC HEALTH UNITS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between self-assessed health and depressive symptoms in 261 older adults attending Basic Health Units. Information was obtained from the Elderly Person's Handbook, the Primary Care Handbook, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). Data were analyzed in SPSS using means, standard deviations, absolute and relative frequencies, and the Spearman Correlation test. It was found that 29.5% (n=77) of the older adults presented depressive symptoms, while self-assessed health was rated as "fair" (n=101; 38.7%) and "good" (n=97; 37.2%). There was a weak, negative correlation between perceived health and depressive symptoms (r=-0.170; p=0.006), which suggests an association between these two variables in the study population