Mental disorders are among the most prevalent chronic diseases in the elderly worldwide and depression is the most common. Often not properly identified or treated, depression contributes to impairment in functional capacity and to considerable burden for family members and health services.

Study the prevalence of depressive symptoms and associated factors in the elderly interned in a Brazilian university hospital.

A cross-sectional study evaluated 189 participants using the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Katz and Lawton Index, to assess dependence regarding activities of daily living (ADL).

The majority of the participants were women, aged between 60 and 92 years-old, with low educational level and personal income and nonqualified occupations. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 56.1%, but only 3% had a psychiatric diagnosis registered in their medical records. Univariate analysis showed significant associations between depressive symptoms and low educational level and income, marital status, number of hospitalizations in the previous year, cognitive decline, dependence regarding basic and instrumental ADL and death. After logistic regression, the only variables that remained significantly associated with depression were low educational level, dependence regarding basic ADL and death.

Depressive symptoms were independently associated with low educational level and dependence regarding basic ADL. More importantly, hospitalized elderly with depressive symptoms were more likely to die. It is essential to properly diagnose and treat depression in this population, to minimize its negative impact on patients, family members and health services.