Quality of life (QOL) Among Geriatric Rural Population - el-Minia - Egypt

Quality of life (QOL) Among Geriatric Rural Population - el-Minia - Egypt

Fadia A Mosalem, Eman M Mahfouz, Mahmoud A Fattah , and Ebtesam E Hassan

EL-MINIA MED., BUL., VOL. 20, NO. 1, JAN., 2009

Background

One of the main features of the Egyptian population over the last few decades is the gradual increase in the absolute and relative numbers of older people. Quality of life (QOL) is a subjective and multidimensional concept that is increasingly being recognized and universally desired as a useful outcome in health and social care research. Measuring QOL is a necessity for adequate interventions. It is defined as “an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.

Aim of the study

To assess QOL and its relation to socio-demographic characteristics and health status among elderly population aged 60 years or more living in El-Burgaia village, El-Minia governorate.

Subjects and methods

The study is a cross sectional, household community based study; the target population who's successfully approved to be interviewed and participate in the study was 1058 elderly while 46 (4.16%) subjects refused. Data were collected by a questionnaire which included, Health Utilities Index2 scale (HUI2) for assessment of HRQOL personal, social data, geriatric depression scale, and data about health status characteristics of elderly.

Results

A total of 1058 elderly people participated in the study. Of them, 5.5% had perfect HRQOL and 25.1% had poor HRQOL. Females were more likely than males to be categorized as poor HRQOL (p=0.0001). HRQOL decreased with increasing age. Educational level and working status of participants were significantly related to the HREQOL scores (p=0.0001). Twenty percent of postgraduate persons had perfect HRQOL versus 4.8% of those who were illiterate. Work improved HRQOL as 13.3% of working individuals versus 4.2% of non working counterparts had perfect HRQOL.

Loneliness and insufficient financial support among participants were negatively related to HRQOL scores (P= 0.0001). Nearly 97% of those with poor HRQOL have chronic diseases and the difference is statistically significant (p = 0.0001). The most important socio-demographic factors affecting HRQOL of elderly were age and financial support, while the least factors were education and care- giving status.

Conclusion

Old age contains many life stressors that can affect HRQOL passively as loneliness, non-working, poor financial support, chronic health problems, poor health status and poor functional capacity. ==Recommendations== Better care of elderly, providing adequate financial support and health-related care services in the community.

KEY WORDS

Health Related Quality of Life Health status

http://med.minia.edu.eg/Arabic/AboutUs/scintific%20jornal/2009/904.pdf

Health care Socioeconomic