Elderly people´s definition of quality of life

Abstract

Possibly, for the elderly subjects a negative quality of life is equivalent to loss of health and a positive life quality is equivalent to a greater range of categories such as activity, income, social life and relationship with the family, categories which differed from subject to subject. Therefore, health seems to be a good indicator of negative quality of life, though an insufficient indicator of successful elderliness.

Components and determinants of quality of life in community-dwelling older adults

“…In spite of the key role of health as a QoL determinant, health is not always ranked in the first place by older adults (Bowling 1995;Xavier et al 2003). Determinants of QoL in old age may vary in type and importance, when compared between groups according to age, health characteristics, and living circumstances (Bowling and Zahava 2004).…”

Associations between self-perceived quality of life and socio-demographic, psychosocial, and health variables in a group of elderly

“…27 . Given that the literature 8,9,10,11,12,13 indicates a strong inverse association between quality of life and depression, we expected to find a negative relationship between the variables that explained better perceived quality of life and depressive symptoms in the elderly. The results confirmed the model, since an inverse relation was seen between the variables associated with better perceived quality of life and BDI (social class: r = -0.21, p < 0.001; self-rated health status: r = -0.34, p < 0.001; volunteer work: r = -0.14, p = 0.009; medication: r = -0.19, p < 0.001; data collection setting: r = -0.21, p < 0.001).…”

“…In relation to the elderly population in southern Brazil, previous studies have shown an association with socio-demographic 7,19 , psychosocial 7,9,14,20 , and health-related variables 7,9,14 . Thus, financial conditions 7,19 and schooling 19 ; family relations and friendship, functional capacity and psychosocial support 14 , positive affects, independence 7 , involvement in domestic activities 9 , volunteer work 20 ; self-rated health status 7,14 , and health problems 9 were associated with quality of life in this elderly population.…”

“…Since quality of life is a multidimensional construct, it is potentially influenced by a wide range of variables, including socio-demographic 3,4,5,6 , psychosocial 3,5,7 , and health-related 3,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 . For the first group of variables, studies have shown that elders' mean family income and level of schooling are positively associated with quality of life 5 .…”

“…As for psychosocial variables, perception of family support 5 , relations with family and friends, social life and leisuretime activities 3 , and positive affects 7 have also been positively related to quality of life. Finally, health variables such as depressive symptoms 8,9,10,11,12,13 and poor self-rated health status 3,7,15 have shown a negative association with quality of life.…”