Association between depressive syndrome and visual complaints among elderly caregivers

ABSTRACT Objectives To determine depressive syndrome in community-dwelling elderly caregivers; and to test the association between such syndrome and both visual complaints (VC) and aspects of care. Methods This is a cross-sectional study conducted with 332 elderly caregivers. Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) was used to screen for depressive symptoms (cutoff > 5 points). Logistic regression was performed to identify associations between depression and both VC and aspects related to care. Results Median age of the caregivers was 68 years. The majority was female (75.9%) and took care of a spouse (84.3%). The prevalence of depressive syndrome was 22.6%. The syndrome was associated with VC when it affected activities of daily living (OR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.37-4.27) and caring for an individual with cognitive impairment (OR = 1.85; 95% CI: 1.05-3.26). Conclusions While measured aspects of care did not exert an influence on the incidence of depressive symptoms, VC associated to functional limitation and caring for elderly individuals with cognitive impairment was associated with such symptoms in the elderly caregivers.

摘要
目标
旨在确定居住社区的老年护理人员的抑郁综合征；并检验该综合征与视觉不适（VC）及护理方面各要素之间的关联。
方法
本研究为横断面研究，涉及332名老年护理人员。使用老年抑郁量表（GDS-15）筛查抑郁症状（临界值大于5分）。通过逻辑回归分析识别抑郁与视觉不适以及与护理相关的各要素之间的关联。
结果
护理人员的平均年龄为68岁。其中女性占多数（75.9%），且负责照顾配偶（84.3%）。抑郁综合征的患病率为22.6%。当抑郁综合征影响日常生活活动（OR = 2.4；95% CI: 1.37-4.27）以及照顾认知障碍个体时（OR = 1.85；95% CI: 1.05-3.26），与视觉不适相关。
结论
尽管测量的护理方面各要素对抑郁症状的发生率未产生显著影响，但与功能受限相关的视觉不适以及照顾认知障碍的老年个体与老年护理人员中的此类症状相关。