Desempenho cognitivo e transtorno de ansiedade generalizada em idosos da comunidade

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate and compare the cognitive performance of elderly people with and without Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). It was a descriptive, quantitative and cross-sectional study in which 233 elderly people registered in a Family Health Unit in the city of São Carlos, São Paulo, were interviewed, divided into two groups: (a) Group with TAG (n = 44) and (b) Group without TAG (n = 189). The instruments for data collection were: sociodemographic questionnaire, Mini Mental State Examination, Consortium to Estabilish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease, Brief Cognitive Screening Battery, CAMDEX Similarity Subtest and Digit extension test (direct and inverse order) . The data obtained were entered into a bank in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows program to perform descriptive, comparative and covariance statistical analyzes. All stages of this work followed the ethical guidelines for research involving human beings. The elderly were mostly female (57.9%), married or with partners (60.9%), with an average age of 69.95 years, low education (M = 3.20 years of education) and income (M = R $ 2125.93). The TAG was identified in 18.9% of the sample (n = 44), these individuals were significantly younger, educated and predominantly female (p <0.05). In addition, the group with GAD had higher scores on cognitive tests. However, after adjusting for age and education, this difference was not significant (p> 0.05). Therefore, it is concluded that TAG had no effect on cognitive performance.