Depression and suicide risk during the Covid-19 pandemic at a Brazilian public health psychosocial addiction care center: a preliminary report

Abstract Objective To evaluate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on depressive symptoms and suicide risk among patients receiving treatment at a Public Health Psychosocial Addiction Care Center (CAPS AD III) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Methods Questions from the Coronavirus Health Impact Survey (CRISIS) translated into Brazilian Portuguese were used to evaluate 70 patients' perceptions of and behaviors during the Covid-19 pandemic. Validated Brazilian versions of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were used to evaluate the severity of depressive symptoms, suicide risk, and anxiety symptoms. A multiple logistic regression model was used to evaluate predictors of suicide risk in the sample. Results Around 70% of patients reported moderate depressive symptoms and 30% reported severe depressive symptoms, 17% of patients reported having thoughts of suicide or death on more than half of days and 10% reported having them daily. The logistic regression model identified history of alcohol use as the main predictor of suicide risk in (OR 13.0, p = 0.03). Conclusions Individuals with a history of alcohol consumption had significantly higher suicide risk scores at a psychosocial public health care center in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic. This result may be important for devising better strategies and interventions to support this specific population profile.

Violência familiar contra a pessoa idosa: expressões do fenômeno e perspectivas para o seu enfrentamento / Family violence against the elderly: expressions of the phenomenon and perspectives for its confrontation

Este artigo objetiva analisar as expressões da violência familiar contra a pessoa idosa e as perspectivas de seu enfrentamento, a partir de pesquisa realizada no Centro de Referência Especializado de Assistência Social (CREAS) de São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul. Trata-se de estudo descritivo de abordagem quantitativa, do tipo documental, com aportes teóricos e metodológicos referenciados no paradigma dialético-crítico, sendo analisadas amostras de 65 prontuários no período de 2010 a 2014. Os resultados revelaram marcadores geracionais e de gênero significativos: as principais vítimas foram mulheres de idade avançada, viúvas, que, apesar de relativa autonomia econômica, dependiam de cuidados de saúde, a cargo de suas famílias, essas, por sua vez, as principais agressoras. Diante dessa realidade, que é social e cultural, as vias de enfrentamento no âmbito da Política de Assistência Social são complexas e nem sempre resolutivas, apesar de seus propósitos serem claros e enfáticos.

This article aims to analyze the expressions of family violence against the elderly person and the perspectives of their confrontation, based on a research carried out at the Specialized Reference Center for Social Assistance (CREAS) in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul. It is a descriptive study of quantitative approach, of documentary type, with theoretical and methodological contributions referenced in the critical-dialectic paradigm. A sample of 65 medical records was analyzed in the period from 2010 to 2014. The results revealed significant generational and gender markers: the main victims were women of advanced age, widows who, despite relative economic autonomy, were dependent on health care, in charge of their families, these, in turn, the main aggressors. Faced with this reality, which is social and cultural, the ways of coping with social assistance policy are complex and not always decisive, even though its purposes are clear and emphatic.