Association between common mental disorders and quality of life in older adults.

Souza Júnior, Edison Vitório de; Cruz, Diego Pires; Siqueira, Lais Reis; Rosa, Randson Souza; Silva, Cristiane Dos Santos; Sawada, Namie Okino

OBJECTIVE to analyze the association between common mental disorder and quality of life in older adults. METHOD cross-sectional study developed with a total of 721 Brazilian older adults between July and October 2020. Participants completed three instruments to assess bio sociodemographic, mental health and quality of life data. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, Chi-square, Pearson correlation and multivariate linear regression tests, considering a 95% confidence interval (p < 0.05) for all analyses. RESULTS among the four components that assess common mental disorder, only three remained associated with negative coefficients with the participants' general quality of life: depressive-anxious mood (β = -2.050; [CI95% = -2.962 - -1.137]; p < 0.001); decrease in vital energy (β = -1.460; [CI95% = -2.197 - -0.723]; p < 0.001) and depressive thoughts (β = -4.124; [CI95% = -5.211- -3.038]; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION most components that assess common mental disorders are negatively associated with quality of life, that is, the increase in these disorders resulted in a reduction in the quality of life of older adults.