Depression and cancer were independently associated with quality of life in Brazilian older people.

Objective To analyse the factors associated with low health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older people living in Brazil. Methods In this cross-sectional study of the Jewish community residing in Sao Paulo, Brazil, we extensively evaluated the characteristics - including clinical, functional and sociodemographic - of 496 older people. Quality of life was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), while the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used to measure depressive symptoms. Results After adjusting for potential confounders, we found that GDS score (beta = -0.07; P = 0.04) and cancer (beta = -0.47; P = 0.05) were associated with a low WHOQOL-BREF score. Conclusion Depressive symptoms and cancer were independently associated with low HRQoL among older people living in Brazil.