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EFFECTS OF SEXUALITY ON COMMON MENTAL DISORDERS AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN ELDERLY PEOPLE

Edison Vitório de Souza Júnior, Diego Pires Cruz, Lais Reis Siqueira, Benedito Fernandes da Silva Filho, Gabriel Magalhães Cairo, Lucas Dias Brito Infante, Namie Okino Sawada

Resumo


Objective: to analyze the effects of sexuality on common mental disorders and quality of
life in elderly people.

Method: cross-sectional study conducted with 721 elderly people from all regions of Brazil who answered four instruments: bio-sociodemographic, EVASI, SRQ-20 and WHOQOL-Old between July and October 2020. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney and Structural Equation Modeling tests adopting a 95% confidence interval.

Results: sexuality exerted a strong, positive effect on quality of life (SC=0.778 [95%CI=0.680-0.862] p<0.001), while on common mental disorders, the effect was strong and negative (SC=-0.481 [95%CI=-0.540 - -0.421] p<0.001).

Conclusion: because a strong effect on the variables was identified, the clinical relevance of sexuality being worked on more frequently in health services was verified. Thus, society benefits with the insertion of a little explored theme and with the weakening of existing prejudices, including among the elderly themselves.


Palavras-chave


Public Health; Health of the Elderly; Mental Health; Sexuality; Quality of Life.

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