Depressive Symptoms and Family Functionality in the Elderly With Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

With the aging process, disease rates such as diabetes mellitus and depression increase. These factors, in turn, interfere in the family relationships and increase the risk of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between depressive symptomatology and family functionality in the elderly with diabetes mellitus. This is a cross-sectional study, developed with 236 elderly people with diabetes in the interior of Bahia, Brazil. The Geriatric Depression Scale and the family APGAR were used as collection instruments and the Structural Equations Modeling was used as the analysis. The model presented adequate adjustment indices with RMSEA 0.05 [IC90% 0.020-0.085], TLI 0.931 and IFC 0.951. The study revealed an association between depressive symptomatology in elderly with diabetes and family dysfunction. Implications for actions and policy change are discussed.