Characteristics of older adults residing in a facility in Santander and the prevalence of depression

Objective: to characterize older adults and analyze the level of depression of this population in an institution in Santander. Methods: In this quantitative cross-sectional descriptive research, we will focus on the sociodemographic characterization and analysis of depressive symptoms in elderly individuals. A questionnaire was designed to collect information on relevant social and demographic characteristics of the participants, including age, gender, educational level, marital status, among others. In addition, the Yesavage Scale, recognized as a valid and reliable tool to assess the presence and severity of depressive symptoms in the geriatric population, is used. The selection of participants was carried out using a simple stratified random sampling method, with the aim of ensuring the representativeness of different sociodemographic groups within the sample. A descriptive analysis of the variables was performed, describing quantitative variables with absolute and relative frequencies and 95% confidence intervals, and we verified the distribution with the Shapiro-Wilk test. Results: Ten older adults were interviewed, 30% were men and 70% were women, aged between 73 and 91 years. With respect to educational level, 50% have incomplete primary school, 20% completed primary school, 10% completed secondary school and 20% did not study. 100% have some kind of disability, with 80% suffering from visual and hearing disabilities, and 20% from physical, mental or cognitive disabilities. All of them participate in life center programs; 50% in productive activities such as dishwashing and janitorial work, and the other 50% in recreational activities. On the other hand, on the Yesavage depression scale, 30% have moderate to mild depression, while 70% have no depression at all.