Abstract
The present investigation aimed to assess the health-related QoL (HRQoL) of elderly people living in two settings: (i) rural community and (ii) homes for the elderly in a district of South India. The data are drawn from elderly (>60 years of age) sampled from both settings. The short form 36-item health survey (SF-36) was administered to all respondents. The average scores for several domains, including total physical health, total mental health and overall health (total SF-36 score) were around 50, which can be interpreted as a moderate level of health-related QoL. Residents living in a home for the elderly scored better in all domains except for role-physical and role-emotional. Though univariate analysis revealed some associations between characteristics of elderly SF-36 scores, the multiple regression analysis indicated that working status yields a significant but negative coefficient for total SF-36 score among community dwelling elderly. The elderly report that their lives are better when they are staying in homes for the elderly. Hence, despite the socio-economic conditions, provision of a better and conducive environment by setting up more charity-based homes for the elderly may be one of the options for relative betterment of the QoL of the elderly, particularly those who are socially and economically deprived. Finally, the study warrants the need of normative values of SF-36 for various population groups in India.
Zusammenfassung
Ziel dieser Untersuchung war es, die gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität („health-related quality of life“, HRQoL) älterer Personen in zwei Lebensumfeldern zu erfassen: (i) in der eigenen bäuerlichen Gemeinschaft und (ii) in Altenheimen eines Bezirks in Südindien. Die Daten stammen von älteren Personen (>60 Jahre) aus beiden Umgebungen. Zur Erhebung war allen Teilnehmern der „short form 36-item health survey“ (SF-36) zugestellt worden. Die durchschnittlichen Scores für mehrere Dimensionen, einschließlich der physischen, der mentalen und der alle Befindlichkeiten umfassenden Gesundheit (Gesamt-SF-36-Score) lagen bei ca. 50; dies kann als mittelmäßiger Grad der gesundheitsbezogenen Lebensqualität interpretiert werden. Menschen in Altenheimen erreichten höhere Werte in allen Dimensionen, mit Ausnahme der körperlichen und emotionalen Rollenfunktionen. Obwohl durch Varianzanalyse einige Beziehungen zwischen den bestimmte Eigenschaften der Älteren betreffenden SF-36-Scores hergestellt werden konnten, deuten die Ergebnisse der multiplen Regressionsanalyse darauf hin, dass der Arbeitsstatus der Befragten einen signifikanten, aber negativen Faktor für den Gesamt-SF-36-Score der in bäuerlicher Umgebung wohnenden Älteren darstellt. Das Leben der älteren Menschen in Altenheimen ist besser. Deswegen könnte die Bereitstellung einer besseren und förderlicheren Umgebung, trotz der sozioökomischen Bedingungen, in durch Wohltätigkeitseinrichtungen finanzierten Altenheimen eine der Optionen für eine relative Verbesserung der Lebensqualität älterer Menschen sein, insbesondere für solche, die sozial und finanziell benachteiligt sind. Ebenso rechtfertigt diese Studie die Notwendigkeit der Erhebung von Richtwerten des SF-36 für einzelne Populationsgruppen Indiens.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gupta I, Sankar D (2003) Health of the elderly in India: a multivariate analysis. J Health Population Developing Countries 24:1–11
HelpAge India (2007) Ageing scenario. Accessible at http://www.helpageindia.org/ageingScenario.php on 13th February 2007
Shah B, Prabhakar AK (1997) Chronic morbidity profile among elderly people. Indian J Med Res 106:265
Census of India (2001) Census of India, provisional tables. Government of India, New Delhi
Ware JE Jr (1993) Measuring patients’ views: the optimum outcome measure. BMJ 306:1429–1430
Irudaya Rajan S (2004) Chronic poverty among Indian elderly. Chronic Poverty Research Centre and Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi
Tsai SY, Chi LY, Lee LS, Chou P (2004) Health-related quality of life among urban, rural and island community elderly in Taiwan. J Formos Med Assoc 103:196–204
Gene J, Moliner C, Contel JC et al (1997) Health and utilization of health services in the elderly, according to the level of living arrangements. Gac Sanit 11:214–220
Huang LH, Lin YC (2002) The health status and needs of community elderly living alone. J Nurs Res 10:227–236
Shu BC, Huang C, Chen BC (2003) Factors related to self-concept of elderly residing in a retirement center. J Nurs Res 11:1–8
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the participants, community leaders of the study villages, and the managers of the homes for the elderly for their supportive involvement in the study. Also, we wish to thank P.V. Ramana and G. Varahamani for their assistance during collection of data.
Conflict of interest
The corresponding author states that there are no conflicts of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Varma, G., Kusuma, Y. & Babu, B. Health-related quality of life of elderly living in the rural community and homes for the elderly in a district of India. Z Gerontol Geriat 43, 259–263 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-009-0077-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-009-0077-x