Objective: To analyze the possible influence of some varied demographic (age, years of education, sex) and individual (reading and writing habits, physical and social activities) in elderly individuals with depressive symptoms.
Design: A prospective clinical and psychometric cross-sectional study.
Materials and Methods: Thirty nine old persons, of both sexes, between 60 and 86 years (70.49±5.5 years old) with complaints of problems of memory were appraised in a state public hospital of São Paulo. The inclusion criteria were school report to atest the number of years of schooling, in the neurological or psychiatric diseases and good general health. A structured interview was accomplished aiming to investigate the clinical history and mental, physical and social habits. The activities were divided into: none, eventually and regularly apprentice, in agreement with the weekly frequency of the activities. The subjects were classified in agreement with the abbreviated Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The score 5 was used to determine the level of cut of the depressive symptoms: < 5 normal and > 5 with depression.
Results: Eleven subjects (28%) of the sample presented depressive symptoms and twenty-eight (71,8%) did not present. The age and the education differed significantly among the groups (p <.05). The group with depressive symptoms presented mean age (74±5 years old) and low education (5±4.3 years old). The groups did not differ by sex. It was verified that there were not statistically significant differences in relation to reading habits, writing and physical and social activities.
Conclusion: The oldest patients and the ones with low education presented more depressive symptoms than the controls. The elderly subjects with depressive symptoms did not differ in relation to the individual variables.
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