Depression and nutritional status of elderly participants of the Hiperdia Program

Abstract

Objective: evaluate the relationship between depression and nutritional status of elderly enrolled in the Hiperdia Program.Methods: cross-sectional study in 91 elderly submitted to nutritional assessment and a structured questionnaire forscreening depression, the Geriatric Depression Scale. Results: there was prevalence of women, 60-65 years old. There wasminimal or moderate depression in 61.5% and severe depression in 2.2%. Proportionally high values of waist circumferencewere identified (91.8%) and overweight (67.6%) in elderly patients with minimal or moderate depression. Conclusion:there is an increasing imbalance in the nutritional status among women with a risk of developing cardiovascular disease,as well as overweight. Elderly are under health risk related to depression. This suggests that despite being inserted in aprogram for control of chronic diseases, they must be accompanied by the health team to improve their quality of life.