Application Of Mental Health Scale And Perceived Stress In Elderly Assisted By Basic Health Units

Brenda Feitosa Lopes Rodrigues,Iana Virgínia Bezerra Félix,Ruth Alves Gomes,Anna Cláudia Freire de Araújo Patrício,Thays Domingos de Brito,Ana Rebeca Soares de Medeiros,Milena Azevedo Minhaqui Ferreira,Jiovana de Souza Santos

doi:10.3823/1915

Abstract

Objective: to Analyze through the mental health scale and perceived stress in elderly assisted by basic health units.Method: an exploratory study, quantitative, and performed in the period from March to July 2015, in the municipality of Joao Pessoa/Paraiba, in northeastern Brazil, where 67 were elderly people aged 60 or more years, a total of 200 elderly linked to family health Strategy and with preserved cognitive capacity. Results: Showed that the majority of the elderly did not submit mental suffering reported low level of perceived stress. Conclusion: we can see that elderly inserted into family and social coexistence have lower level of stress. Among the many disorders that affect the elderly, such as the limitation on motor coordination, difficulty of locomotion and metabolic deficits, mental health needs special attention. Keywords: Mental Health; Aged; Health Centers.Objective: to Analyze through the mental health scale and perceived stress in elderly assisted by basic health units. Method: an exploratory study, quantitative, and performed in the period from March to July 2015, in the municipality of Joao Pessoa/Paraiba, in northeastern Brazil, where 67 were elderly people aged 60 or more years, a total of 200 elderly linked to family health Strategy and with preserved cognitive capacity. Results: Showed that the majority of the elderly did not submit mental suffering reported low level of perceived stress. Conclusion: we can see that elderly inserted into family and social coexistence have lower level of stress. Among the many disorders that affect the elderly, such as the limitation on motor coordination, difficulty of locomotion and metabolic deficits, mental health needs special attention. Keywords: Mental Health; Aged; Health Centers.

Highlights

Social changes, economic, political and technological come significantly contributing to the increased longevity of the population
The Pearson correlation coefficient for age and mental distress proved to be weak with 0.29 value
Mental disorders impair 20% of the elderly population, among which stand out the dementia and depression as prevalent [11]

Summary

Introduction

Economic, political and technological come significantly contributing to the increased longevity of the population. The new Brazilian life expectancy is 73.1 years. Among women are registered the lowest mortality rates that represent 55.8% of persons over the age of 60 years. One of the common health problems in old age, are mental disorders that affect about one-third of the elderly population. There are few epidemiological studies of General psychiatric morbidity in the elderly in our midst, 26.4% prevalence of pointing to 33.6% in Brazilian urban communities [2]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion