Perfil de mortalidade por episódios depressivos em idosos no estado do Ceará

Abstract

Aging is a natural process experienced by every human being. During this process, individuals experience countless repercussions, be they social, mental, physiological and emotional. At this juncture, mental illnesses such as depression are highlighted. Depression is understood as a feeling of prolonged loneliness caused by several factors; in the elderly, family relationships, related psychiatric disorders, chronic stress, chronic anxiety, hormonal disorders, psychological trauma, cardiovascular, endocrine, neurological diseases, neoplasms, marital conflicts are emphasized; Abrupt change in financial conditions and unemployment, causing impacts on the quality of life of the oldest old and possibly leading to death. The objective was to describe depressive episodes in elderly people living in the state of Ceará in the last five years. This is a descriptive and documentary study, with a quantitative approach, conducted with data from the Department of Informatics of the Brazilian Unified Health System. It was found that in the period from 2014 to 2018, 116 cases of mortality from depressive episodes were identified in the state of Ceará in individuals aged 60 years or over. There was a predominance of mortality in elderly female, uneducated, single and widowed, brown and aged 80 years or more. The knowledge of the mortality profile due to depressive episodes in the elderly population represents a strategy for understanding the possibilities of present and future interventions to be worked by health professionals, as well as the diversification of the involvement and profile of elderly people with depression in different regions and Brazilian states, considering the need for further studies of this magnitude.