Dolor crónico y depresión en pacientes adultos mayores atendidos en consulta externa
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El dolor crónico y la depresión constituyen problemáticas prevalentes en la población geriátrica global, con asociaciones bidireccionales documentadas internacionalmente. En Perú se estima 38.5% de dolor crónico (IC 95%: 33.5–44.0) y en Brasil 47.32% en adultos mayores. El objetivo del estudio es estimar la asociación entre dolor crónico y depresión en personas adultas mayores atendidas en consulta externa del Hospital Policial Geriátrico San José durante 2023. Este estudio no experimental, cuantitativo, analítico y de corte transversal analizó 139 adultos mayores (mediana 75 años; 61.9% mujeres) del Hospital Policial Geriátrico San José durante 2023. Se aplicaron cuestionarios estandarizados: índice de Lattinen para dolor crónico y GDS-15 de Yesavage para depresión. Los hallazgos revelaron predominio de dolor intenso (72.7%), consumo regular de analgésicos (73.4%), incapacidad moderada (64.7%) y sueño interrumpido (65.5%). La depresión fue leve en 56.1% y severa en 24.5%. Se halló correlación significativa entre dolor crónico global y depresión (p=0.013; ρ=0.209), incluyendo intensidad (p=0.008; ρ=0.223), frecuencia (p=0.017; ρ=0.202), incapacidad (p=0.001; ρ=0.274) y horas de sueño (p=0.001; ρ=-0.273). La utilización de analgésicos no mostró asociación significativa (p=0.142). Los resultados evidencian la necesidad de abordajes integrales para el manejo del dolor geriátrico que incluyan evaluación sistemática del estado de ánimo y estrategias multimodales de intervención.
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