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.