Autonomia do idoso : avaliação da capacidade da tomada de decisão e associação com depressão maior

• Ano de defesa: 2017
• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Anelise Crippa
• Orientador(a): Terra, Newton Luiz
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Gerontologia Biomédica
• Departamento: Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia
• País: Brasil
• Palavras-chave em Português: Idoso; Autonomia; Gerontologia; Depressão Maior; Bioética
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CIENCIAS DA SAUDE::MEDICINA
• Link de acesso: http://tede2.pucrs.br/tede2/handle/tede/7244

INTRODUCTION: In recent decades, the elderly population in Brazil has increased significantly, raising the average life expectancy at birth. Diseases are a general concern for this age group, particularly mental illness, with depression being the most common and already considered a public health issue. The growing elderly population affects a variety of areas including the legal field, requiring greater care and support due to their vulnerability. Thus, legal instruments governing elderly rights should be related to the reality experienced by this group and their illnesses, which can affect legal issues. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to create and validate an instrument capable of assessing decision-making ability and apply it to elderly individuals suffering from major depressive disorder, before and after treatment. METHOD: The study was divided into three stages creation, validation and application to elderly participants suffering from major depressive disorder. In stage one, an instrument was designed and assessed by magistrates, with answers based on the Likert Scale. Aspects assessed were clarity, ambiguity, relevance and whether each of the questions corresponded to only one answer. In stage two, the instrument was applied to elderly participants in the Cerebral Aging Program (PENCE) of the Porto Alegre Family Health Strategy in partnership with the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). Exclusion criteria were cognitive deficit or impairment and neuropsychiatric diseases, assessed using the Vellore Screening Instrument for Dementia and the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS). Stage three consisted of a cohort study in which elderly patients with major depressive disorder and no cognitive deficit or impairment were treated by the HSL-PUCRS psychiatric team at the PENCE clinic for six months. The scale designed in stage one and validated in stage two was applied to participants before and after treatment. The Vellore, GDS, MINI-PLUS and Addenbroocke screening instruments were used. The study was approved by the PUCRS Research Ethics Committee. RESULTS: Stage one produced in an instrument containing 30 questions. In stage two, 10 participants were interviewed for each question devised, totaling 300 elderly subjects. The instrument was validated by calculating Cronbach’s alpha, obtaining a total alpha of 0.814, demonstrating its reliability and validity. Next, the instrument was finalized with 18 questions and divided into four domains: daily activity, financial management, self-management and well-being. This produced the ESCADE: Assessment Scale for Decision-Making Capacity. In stage three, 48 elderly subjects suffering from major depressive disorder were interviewed before and after treatment and compared to individuals from the control group. A change was observed in the autonomy of the elderly patients from the moment of diagnosis with major depressive disorder, indicating improvement after treatment. This result remained the same on comparison with the control group. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the instrument developed in this study is capable of assisting both health care teams, particularly doctors required to provide reports, and magistrates who often deal with cases that require them to rule on incapacity. The ESCADE is highly relevant in terms of supported decision-making, since the domains presented make it possible to identify the exact area in which support is required.