Mental health and social relations in older rural population.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and analyze the influence of social relations in the elderly in the rural setting with depression. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SAMPLE: Patients (N=787) over 64 years, non-institutionalized who belong to the Basic Health Zone Substations (Zaragoza), a representative rural area of Aragon. The following variables were evaluated: diagnosis of depression, comorbidity, taking antidepressants, sociodemographic variables and use of social resources (OARS questionnaire), instrumental activities of daily living (Lawton-Brody test) and basics daily living activities (Barthel test). RESULTS: According to multivariate analysis, the risk of suffering depression is higher in women (OR=5.6 CI=3.0- 10.5), patients with comorbidity (OR=12.2 CI=5.1-29.2), people who speak by phone with other at least 5 times a week (OR=3.1 CI=1.7-5.5), who have no one to confide in (OR=3.9 CI=1.8-8.5), sometimes feeling alone (OR=2.7 CI=1.0-4.8), they do not see their family as much as they want to (OR=2.1 CI=1.3-4.4) and who are dependent on others for daily living activities (OR= 2.6 CI=1.5-4.6). CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the findings in other studies and provide clues to guide interventions aimed at improving the quality of life of the elderly.

[Health and social services used by the rural elderly]. / Servicios sanitarios y sociales utilizados por las personas mayores del medio rural.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the use of health and social services, and to analyze the influence of functional capacity for Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) and other factors in their use. METHOD: Cross-sectional study in a non-institutionalized population older than 64 years old in a basic rural health area of Zaragoza. DEPENDENT VARIABLES: use of different health and social services. Main independent variable: functional capacity for IADL according to the Lawton-Brody. Confounding variables: sociodemographic, physical exercise, comorbidity, self-perceived health, walking aids, social resources and economic resources (OARS-MAFQ). The relationship between the use of services and functional capacity for IADL was assessed using crude OR (ORC) and adjusted (adjusted OR) with CI95% by means of multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: The use of social and health services increased with age and worse functional capacity for IADL. The increased use of health services was related with bad stage of health, limited social and economic resources, physical inactivity and female. The increased use of home help services was related with limited social resources, low education level and male. Regular physical activity and using walking aids were associated with greater participation in recreational activities. CONCLUSIONS: The probability of using social and health services increased in older people with impaired functional capacity for IADL. The specific use of them changed according to differences in health, demographic and contextual features.