Elderly people's definition of quality of life.

Objectives: Senescence for some elderly people is a phase of with development and satisfaction, whereas for others is a negative stage of life. The determinants of a good quality of life in old age vary from person to person. The aims of this study were to identify 1) the prevalence of octogenarian people who evaluate their current life as being mainly characterized by a positive quality and 2) which were the domains that they identified as being the determinants of this positive quality.

Bereavement-related cognitive impairment in an oldest-old community-dwelling Brazilian sample.

As it is already known that depression can cause a demonstrable impact on cognition in elderly subjects, the objective of this study was to determine whether also the mourning process is associated with any cognitive impairment in this age range. A random and representative sample (a sample with 77 subjects/total county population of oldest-old with 219 subjects = 35%) aged 80 years or more was selected from the county of Veranópolis in the Brazilian rural southern region. Of this group, the cognitive function of subjects without grief and of subjects with the presence of grief were compared.

The DSM-IV 'minor depression' disorder in the oldest-old: prevalence rate, sleep patterns, memory function and quality of life in elderly people of Italian descent in Southern Brazil.

Objectives: (1) To describe the prevalence of minor depression in a community-dwelling population aged 80 years and over. (2) To compare the sleep pattern, memory function and the prevalence rate of other psychiatric diagnoses between normal controls and subjects with minor depressive disorder.

Design: A random representative sample (sample=77 subjects/county population of oldest-old =219--35%) aged 80 years or more was selected from the county of Veranópolis in the Brazilian rural southern region.