EFFECTS OF SEXUALITY ON COMMON MENTAL DISORDERS AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN ELDERLY PEOPLE

• Autor(a) principal: Souza Júnior, Edison Vitório de
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Cruz, Diego Pires, Siqueira, Lais Reis, Silva Filho, Benedito Fernandes da, Cairo, Gabriel Magalhães, Infante, Lucas Dias Brito, Sawada, Namie Okino
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Cogitare Enfermagem (Online)
• DOI: 10.5380/ce.v27i0.86919
• Texto Completo: https://revistas.ufpr.br/cogitare/article/view/86919
• topic: Public Health; Health of the Elderly; Mental Health; Sexuality; Quality of Life.

Objective: to analyze the effects of sexuality on common mental disorders and quality oflife in elderly people.Method: cross-sectional study conducted with 721 elderly people from all regions of Brazil who answered four instruments: bio-sociodemographic, EVASI, SRQ-20 and WHOQOL-Old between July and October 2020. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney and Structural Equation Modeling tests adopting a 95% confidence interval.Results: sexuality exerted a strong, positive effect on quality of life (SC=0.778 [95%CI=0.680-0.862] p<0.001), while on common mental disorders, the effect was strong and negative (SC=-0.481 [95%CI=-0.540 - -0.421] p<0.001).Conclusion: because a strong effect on the variables was identified, the clinical relevance of sexuality being worked on more frequently in health services was verified. Thus, society benefits with the insertion of a little explored theme and with the weakening of existing prejudices, including among the elderly themselves.