Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Functioning of Elderly from the Family Health Strategy

This study aimed to characterize the prevalence of depressive symptoms in the sample studied and to analyze the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive functioning of the elderly registered in Family Health Strategy (Estrategia Saude da Familia - ESF) of the city of Porto Alegre (Brazil). 306 elderly were evaluated through: Scale of Geriatric Depression (GDS-15); Test of Verbal Fluency; Boston Naming Test; Logical Memory Test (WMS-R) and List of Words (CERAD Battery). Participants were divided in two groups (G1 and G2), according to absence and presence of depressive symptoms. A prevalence of 29.41% of depressive symptoms was found, with a predominance of women and younger adults. In general, G2, with depressive symptoms, presented a poor performance in all tests when compared to G1. The difference in the intensity of depressive symptoms did not affect the performance in the cognitive tasks. The presence of depressive symptomatology interferes in the cognitive performance of the elderly, leading to a poor performance in tasks of verbal episodic memory and executive functions. Thus, it is important to evaluate the presence of depressive symptoms, along with cognitive aspects in the elderly, in order to adopt preventive measures.