[Prevalence of depressive symptoms and associated factors among southern Brazilian adults: cross-sectional population-based study].

To identify the prevalence of depressive symptoms and examine associated factors in a Southern Brazilian adult population, a cross-sectional population-based study was carried out, including 972 subjects, men and women, aged 20 to 69 years, living in the urban area of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul. The sampling strategy relied on the census tracts of the city as primary sampling units and households as the secondary units. The questionnaire included socio-demographic, behavioral and nutritional variables. The prevalence of sadness, anxiety, loss of energy, lack of will to do things, thinking about the past, and wishing to stay at home were 29.4%, 57.6%, 37.4%, 40.4%, 33.8%, and 54.3%, respectively. Female gender, older ages, smokers and obese individuals showed association with depressive symptoms. Population-based studies using longitudinal designs may help to clarify the relationship between biopsychosocial variables and depressive symptoms.