CLINICS 2011;66(2):233-238 CLINICAL SCIENCE DOI:10.1590/S1807-59322011000200009 Psychiatry - life events and social support in late life depression Clo´ vis Alexandrino-Silva,I,III Taˆ nia Ferraz Alves,II,III Luı´s Fernando To´ foli,IV Yuan-Pang Wang,I Laura Helena AndradeI I Section of Psychiatry Epidemiology - LIM 23, Institute and Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of Sa˜ o Paulo, S a˜o Paulo, SP, Brazil. II Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of S a˜o Paulo, S a˜o Paulo, SP, Brazil. III Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, Fundac¸ a˜o do ABC, Santo Andre´ , SP, Brazil. IV School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceara´ , Sobral Campus, Sobral, CE, Brazil. OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of life events and social support in the broadly defined category of depression in late life. INTRODUCTION: Negative life events and lack of social support are associated with depression in the elderly. Currently, there are limited studies examining the association between life events, social support and late-life depression in Brazil. METHODS: We estimated the frequency of late-life depression within a household community sample of 367 subjects aged 60 years or greater with associated factors. ‘‘Old age symptomatic depression’’ was defined using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 1.1 tool. This diagnostic category included only late-life symptoms and consisted of the diagnoses of depression and dysthymia as well as a subsyndromal definition of depression, termed ‘‘late subthreshold depression’’. Social support and life events were assessed using the Comprehensive Assessment and Referral Evaluation (SHORT-CARE) inventory. RESULTS: ‘‘Old age symptomatic depression’’ occurred in 18.8% of the patients in the tested sample. In univariate analyses, this condition was associated with female gender, lifetime anxiety disorder and living alone. In multivariate models, ‘‘old age symptomatic depression’’ was associated with a perceived lack of social support in men and life events in women. DISCUSSION: Social support and life events were determined to be associated with late-life depression, but it is important to keep in mind the differences between genders. Also, further exploration of the role of lifetime anxiety disorder in late-life depression may be of future importance. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that this study helps to provide insight into the role of psychosocial factors in late-life depression. KEYWORDS: Depression; Ageing; Life Events; Social Support; Elderly; Brazil. Alexandrino-Silva C, Alves TF, T o´foli LF, Wand YP, Andrade LH. Psychiatry - life events and social support in late life depression. Clinics. 2011;66(2):233-238. Received or publication on August 28, 2010; First review completed on September 20, 2010; Accepted for publication on November 3, 2010 E-mail: alexandrinojr@yahoo.com.br Tel.: 55 11 3069-6976 INTRODUCTION Population-based studies in Latin American and Cari- bbean countries have described the sizeable impact of mental illness in this region with one-year prevalence rates of 1.0% for nonaffective psychosis, 4.9% for major depres- sion, and 5.7% for alcohol use, abuse or dependence.1 In developing countries, there are isolated reports on the frequency of depression in elderly people,1-4 but there is Copyright 2011 CLINICS – This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non- commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. little consensus on the role of social support and life events in different communities and socioeconomically disadvan- taged groups. In Latin American and the Caribbean, ageing has grown in recent decades due to factors such as mortality decline and as a result of successful medical techniques that, for example, contributed towards the reduction in the spread of infectious diseases.5 Additionally, the speed and size of this process indicates that it takes place in the context of fragile economies, high levels of poverty, and social and economic inequalities.6 Brazil also presents these patterns, and the most current data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) indicate that its population consists of more than 180 million inhabitants, with those aged 60 years or older representing roughly 10% of the country’s population.7 233