Objective:

To evaluate the factors associated with depressive symptomatology in older adults attending to “Micaela Bastidas” health center from Lima, Peru.

Methods:

Cross-sectional analytical study in adults over 60 in a marginal urban area from Lima. We evaluated the dependent variable using the geriatric depression scale of 15 items. We considered the presence of depressive symptomatology with a score ≥ 6. We calculated the factors associated with depressive symptomatology using raw and adjusted prevalence ratios with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) using poisson regressions with robust variance.

Results:

Of the 142 older adults (age 70.4 ± 8.14 years old), the prevalence of the presence of depressive symptomatology was 55.6% (women: 39.6% and men: 53.4%). The lack of schooling (RPa: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.04 - 1.88) and not working (RPa: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.09 - 2.05) were risk factors that increased the prevalence of depressive symptomatology.

Conclusion:

The prevalence of presence of depressive symptomatology in older adults from a marginal urban area of Peru was high. Older adults who did not complete their schooling and did not work were more likely to develop depressive symptomatology.

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