Quality of life of seniors living in the community and in long term care facilities: a comparative study

Abstract

Objectives: to compare the perceptions of quality of life (QOL) and to identify factors associated with QOL among seniors living in the community in Porto Alegre, RS and institutionalized seniors from the countryside of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Method: this study used secondary data from two cross-sectional epidemiological studies. The sample consisted of 288 seniors living in the community and 76 institutionalized seniors. An instrument addressing socio-demographic data and the WHOQOL-BREF were administered. Results: bivariate analysis showed that age, gender, schooling, self-reported health, and leisure presented statistically significant differences between institutionalized and non-institutionalized seniors. The Psychological and Social Relationships domains also presented statistically significant differences. The variables that presented significant correlation in multivariate analysis in relation to the Psychological domain were education, assessments of health, leisure and in relation to the Social domain, education and age. Conclusion: being institutionalized did not influence the older adults' perceptions of QOL, but the socio-demographic characteristics and self-assessments of health did. Calidad de vida de los ancianos de la comunidad y en instituciones de larga estancia: estudio comparativoObjetivos: comparar la percepción de la calidad de vida (CV) entre ancianos de la comunidad en Porto Alegre / RS y ancianos institucionalizados en Minas Gerais e identificar factores asociados a la calidad de vida entre esos ancianos. Método: en esa investigación, se utilizaron datos secundarios a partir de dos estudios epidemiológicos transversales. La muestra fue de 288 ancianos de la comunidad y 76 institucionalizados. Se utilizaron instrumentos de caracterización sociodemográfica y WHOQOL-BREF para evaluación de la CV. Resultados: en el análisis bivariado, se evidenció que edad, sexo, escolaridad, auto evaluación de la salud y recreación mostraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre ser institucionalizado o no. Los dominios de CV Psicológico y Relaciones Sociales presentaron asociación. En el análisis multivariado, las variables que permanecieron con correlación en el Dominio Psicológico: escolaridad, evaluación de salud, recreación y, en el Dominio Relaciones Sociales, escolaridad, edad. Conclusión: ser institucionalizado no influyó en la percepción de la CV de los ancianos, mientras las características sociodemográficas y de salud influyeron.

Quality of life of elderly people with chronic kidney disease in conservative treatment

“…More limited are studies of this type with a focus on the elderly patient. Through the application of the WHOQOL-BREF, the present study verified that the domain "social relationships" was the most strengthened, reaching a higher mean score, corroborating with the results of studies that evaluated the QOL of older people in general (26) And hemodialysis patients (27)(28) . Due to the scarcity of articles evaluating QOL of elderly through WHOQOL-BREF and WHOQOL-OLD, for comparison, studies that assessed the health-related quality of life of pre-dialysis patients, with the Medical Outcomes Study 36 -Short Item -From Health Survey (SF-36) were used.…”

Socioeconomic and Health Conditions Associated With Quality of Life of Elderly Quilombolas

“…These results differ from the findings in a study 18 that identified a positive QoL in elderly people with low education levels, mainly in the Social and Physical domains. In another study 19 , however, it was identified that elderly people with a higher education level perceived a better QoL in the Social Relations domain.…”

“…22 In addition, in a study that assessed the QoL of elderly people, it was evidenced that the elderly's background health conditions are one of the factors that most influenced the perceived QoL. 19 The number of main health problems in the elderly was strongly associated with the QoL and GQoL, except for the Psychological domain that, although less intense, interfered negatively in the QoL. In an international study on QoL and ADLs of elderly people in rural areas, developed in Turkey, based on the WHOQOL-bref, it was verified that the presence of diseases was associated with lower scores in the Physical, Psychological and Social domains.…”

Vulnerabilidade física entre idosos: diferencias por sexo

“…Logo, quanto maior a escolaridade, maior será o conhecimento sobre saúde e assim a qualidade de vida, realidade essa evidenciada nos países desenvolvidos (Vitorino, Paskulin & Vianna, 2013).…”

“…Através dos resultados expostos na tabela 2, pode-se perceber que a maior incidência de casos ocorre entre a população feminina. Pesquisas ressaltam que apesar das mulheres viverem mais tempo, em compensação tendem a desenvolver e conviver com as doenças e incapacidades por um período mais prolongado, se comparada aos homens (Vitorino, Paskulin & Vianna, 2013).…”