Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate whether religiousness and social support were associated with the use of antidepressants among community-dwelling elders. The research involved 1,606 older adults who make up the cohort of Bambuí Project, a study on ageing and health. The dependent variable was the use of antidepressants in the last 90 days, and the exposures of interest were social support and religiousness. Logistic regression was used to test the associations and to estimate crude and adjusted Odds Ratio and their 95% confidence intervals. The chances of use of antidepressants were significantly lower among older people with higher level of religiosity (OR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.29 to 0.70), but none of the descriptors social support was associated with the event. In this population, it is possible that religion occupies a prominent role in the arsenal of health problems coping strategies, especially mental. Health professionals attending this particular segment of the population (elderly people with depressive disorders) should consider religiousness of patients when the proposed guidelines and treatment in coping with their mental suffering.
Highlights
Material and methodsIn recent decades, the possible relationships between social support, religiousness and depression have earned the attention of the scientific community with evidence that in both respects, the effect is beneficial, especially among the elderly[1,2,3,4]
The present study investigated whether religiousness and social support were associated with the use of antidepressants among the elderly living in the community
The use of antidepressants was associated to religiousness, with the elderly who attended religious services most frequently showing significantly less likelihood of using the antidepressants
Summary
The possible relationships between social support, religiousness and depression have earned the attention of the scientific community with evidence that in both respects, the effect is beneficial, especially among the elderly[1,2,3,4]. Religiousness already provides engaging in behaviors beneficial to health, from notions of purity of body, mind and spirit (ideas spread by different beliefs). It stimulates physiological responses through neurotransmitters that enable relaxation in stressful situations and enhances the positive effects of social support on health[6]. Antidepressants (ADs) are the standardized pharmacological class for treating depression and its use has recently increased[10,11]. Thielen et al.[14] demonstrated in a longitudinal study among Danish employees that low social support was predictive of incident use of antidepressants in men
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