Health Related Quality of Life and Its Socio-Demographic Determinants among Iranian Elderly People: a Population Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: In the stage of demographic transition, the rate of elderly is increasing and their health condition is a matter of concern. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the health related quality of life (QoL) and the associated socio-demographic determinants among Iranian elderly people. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with a representative samples of 750 elderly people whom community dwelling in urban area of Babol, in the north of Iran. In a household survey, the demographic data were collected and the health related QoL was assessed with a validated standard short form questionnaire (SF-36). The multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the demographic characteristics in predicting QoL using SPSS ver 13. Results: The overall mean (SD) scores of QoL was 62.4(17.2) for men and 51.2 (17.9) for women. The mean scores of QoL in all dimensions in men had significantly higher than women. The adjusted regression coefficient of gender, age, educational level, being couple were significant on overall scores of QoL. Aging is inversely associated while male gender and education at high school or higher and being couple are positively associated in prediction of overall scores of QoL. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the health related QoL is rather poor in old people particular in women, elderly with low education level and being single. Therefore, healthcare policy makers should consider an urgent health interventional program among elderly people at present stage of demographic transition with emphasis on high risk demographic profiles.

The Elders’ Spiritual Well-Being and Their Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…It can be related to the cultural differences, type of disease, and socioeconomic status of the subjects. Moreover, the results of the present study indicated no relationship between the mean score of Quality of Life and other variables, except for marital status; as the married elderlies reported higher Quality of Life than others (P=0.009) which is consistent with the results of some studies (Jadidi et al 2011;Hajian-Tilaki, Heidari & Hajian-Tilaki 2017;Shi et al 2017;Wang et al 2017b;Zhou & Hearst 2016). However the results were inconsistent with some other studies (Buhse, Banker & Clement 2014).…”

Changes in the quality of life of female participants from the University of the Third Age and their predictors

“…People with depression consider their life quality to be poor. Moreover, they have difficulties maintaining interpersonal relationships and the risk of contracting infectious diseases is higher [15]. Thus, a decrease in the intensity of depressive symptoms in female UTA students is by all means a positive change.…”

“…Social involvement and interactions (not only between family members but also with individuals other than the closest ones) greatly influence on perceived quality of life [15]. One of the ways of involving elderly persons in social activities is to promote the notion of lifelong learning.…”

Are gender differences in health-related quality of life attributable to sociodemographic characteristics and chronic disease conditions in elderly people?

“…The full description of method of subject selection was described elsewhere. [ 17 ] Briefly, a standard two-stage cluster sampling technique was used to select participants in a healthy household survey. Participants with severe disability, dementia, recent diagnosis of cancer, and cardiovascular atherosclerosis were excluded from the study.…”

“…[ 8 9 10 11 12 13 ] All of these chronic conditions influence on the deteriorating HRQoL score, in particular, in elderly (1.8). [ 14 ] Regardless of these chronic conditions, some studies in Iranian populations reported a poorer HRQoL in women than men,[ 15 16 17 ] but the published reports were almost based on univariate analysis. However, the findings are contradicted among western counterpart elderly.…”