Assessment of depression in elderly with systemic hypertension

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Patrícia Costa dos Santos da
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: Monteiro, Lidiane Aparecida, Graciano, Alessandra Domingues da Silva, Terra, Fábio de Souza, Veiga, Eugenia Velludo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Rev Rene (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://periodicos.ufc.br/rene/article/view/3107
• topic: Hypertension; Elderly; Depression; Geriatric Assessment; Nursing.

We aimed to evaluate the presence of depression, the ability to perform activities of daily living, and the cognitive function of elderly with hypertension registered in a unit of the family health strategy. A descriptive-quantitative research conducted in Minas Gerais, Brazil, from December 2011 to January 2012, with 172 elderly patients, using a characterization instrument; the Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale; the Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale; and the Mini-Mental State Examination. We found depressive symptoms in 30.2% of the sample, 93% of the elderly were classified as independent, 2.2% presented partial dependence, and 4.8%, total dependence. By associating the variables “ability to perform activities of daily living” and “depression”, we found a statistically significant difference. Thus, we concluded that elderly patients with hypertension present depressive symptoms in a percentage higher than that found in the general population and that most have the ability to perform activities of daily living.