Depression and quality of life in older adults: Mediation effect of steep quality

Background/Objective: Sleep insufficiency, which affects more than 45% of the world's population, has a great importance when considering older adults. Thus, this research tested a mediation hypothesis, through a path analysis, which explains how depression relates to the quality of life considering the effect's of sleep quality in older adults. Method: A sample of 187 community-dwelling Portuguese older adults answered questionnaires about sociodemographic status (age, gender, highest level of education completed, family status, sports activities, health, and retirement status), quality of life, sleep quality, and depression. Descriptive and path analysis statistics were performed considering the results of the normality test. Results: The sample has health characteristics and presents adequate sleep duration. Sleep quality acted as a mediator between depression and the quality of life in older adults, considering the variation of gender and health. This suggests that it is important to establish self-care practices, namely sleep quality, to intervene in the ageing process. Conclusions: It is important to consider sleep quality associated with depression for older adults and to test interventions to minimize health impacts. Also, more researches are needed about the primary prevention in steep quality relating to depression. (c) 2017 Asociacion Espanola de Psicologia Conductual. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.Foundation for Science and Technology-Portugal (CIEO-Research Centre for Spatial and Organizational Dynamics, University of Algarve, Portugal); Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES) [BEX 1990/15-2]