Interface depressão e solidão : um estudo com idosos não institucionalizados no sul do Brasil.

Abstract

Introduction: Population aging has become one of the milestones of contemporary society. This demographic scenario impacts health issues, characterized by chronic, degenerative diseases, the need for continuous medication, and also generates consequences for mental health, including loneliness and depression. In relation to depression, some of the characteristics are: changes in mood, loss of sleep and appetite, decline in self-esteem, guilt and suicidal thoughts. As for loneliness, it constitutes an experience in which feelings of being alone generate unpleasant, distressing, distressing and oppressive sensations. The research aimed to verify how depression and loneliness appear in non-institutionalized elderly people. Method: This is a research with a qualitative and quantitative approach, carried out with 300 elderly people who consulted at the ALA I outpatient clinic of the Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria (HUSM). Three hundred individuals participated in the quantitative modality and from this sample, 12 subjects were included in the qualitative approach. To produce the data, the sociodemographic questionnaire and the Brazilian Loneliness Scale (UCLA-BR) and a semi directed and recorded interview were used. The field collection period took place from June to October 2021. After collection, the qualitative interviews were transcribed and, subsequently, the categorical analysis method proposed by Minayo was used; and the quantitative modality through statistical analysis using the SPSS program. The study has support and foundations from authors such as: Hannah Arendt, Maria Cecília de Souza Minayo, Norberto Elias, Sabrina Martins Barroso, Valéria Sousa Andrade and Nadyara Regina Oliveira. To publish the results of this study, three manuscripts were prepared and one of them was published (article). Article 1: Objective: to understand the perception of elderly people about aging and loneliness. Method: this is a qualitative research, carried out with 12 elderly people in a public teaching hospital in southern Brazil. To produce the data, a semi-structured interview was used, recorded from September to October 2021. The interviews were transcribed and the thematic content analysis method proposed by Minayo was used. Results: chronological aging was not experienced as a limiting factor, thus indicating a positive perspective in relation to aging itself; and loneliness is understood as the lack of company and depression as enhancing loneliness. Final Considerations: important repercussions were found in which loneliness generates greater impacts than the perception of aging itself. Manuscript 1: Objective: to describe the most frequent items of the Brazilian Scale of Loneliness (UCLA-BR), in non-institutionalized elderly people. Method: cross-sectional quantitative study, with 300 elderly people, aged between 60 and 70 years, of both sexes, users of a public hospital outpatient clinic in southern 10 Brazil. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Brazilian Loneliness Scale (UCLA-BR) were applied. Results: the analysis demonstrated the most frequent items on the loneliness scale; with emphasis on: I feel that my interests and ideas are not shared by those around me (39.0%), I wait for people to call or write to me (38.7%), I feel that my social relationships are superficial (33.0%), I feel like no one understands me (27.0%), I feel like I lack company (18.0%) and I feel like no one really knows me well (18.0%). Conclusion: the study found that the most frequent items using the UCLA-BR scale were: I feel that my interests and ideas are not shared by those around me, I wait for people to call or write to me and I feel that my social relationships are superficial. These data are relevant to support the expansion of care for elderly people, by families and institutions, in strengthening health actions aimed at the elderly population. Manuscript 2: Aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic variables associated with loneliness using the Brazilian Loneliness Scale (UCLA-BR), in non-institutionalized elderly people. This is a cross-sectional survey carried out with 300 elderly people aged 60 to 70 years, of both sexes and users of an outpatient clinic in a Public Hospital. Data collection took place from June to October 2021 and a sociodemographic questionnaire and the loneliness scale (UCLA-BR) were used. The association between the variables was assessed using the prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The univariate analysis demonstrated the factors associated with loneliness: female sex (PR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.18-1.39); with advancing age, the elderly aged 70 years (PR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.19-1.63); marital transitions such as widowed (RP: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.12-1.42), and separated/divorced (RP: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.06- 1.38); urban area residents (PR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.21-1.48); depression (PR:1.88; 95% CI: 1.78- 1.98). It is concluded that the study highlighted the factors that are associated with loneliness in non-institutionalized elderly people such as the female sex, advancing age and marital transitions and these results indicate conditions that enhance the development of loneliness, being relevant for consultations to expand health care aimed at the elderly population. Final considerations: the study showed that loneliness is perceived as a lack of company and depression as an intensifier of loneliness; and the Brazilian Loneliness Scale (UCLA-BR) as a tool to assess the level of loneliness in the elderly; in which 33% presented minimal loneliness, 45.3% mild, 13% moderate and 8.7% intense loneliness. Therefore, the thesis defended in this study: the level of loneliness in non-institutionalized elderly people can be measured by the Brazilian Loneliness Scale (UCLA-BR).