University of the Third Age: the impact of continuing education on the quality of life of the elderly

• Published in: Revista brasileira de geriatria e gerontologia 2017-08, Vol.20 (4), p.545-555
• Main Authors: Adamo, Chadi Emil, Esper, Marina Tomaz, Bastos, Gabriela Cunha Fialho Cantarelli, Sousa, Ivone Félix de, Almeida, Rogério José de
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Elderly; GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY; Quality of Life; University of the Third Age
• ISSN: 1809-9823; 1981-2256; 1809-9823; 1981-2256
• DOI: 10.1590/1981-22562017020.160192

Abstract Objective: To verify, among elderly participants of the University of the Third Age (UnATI) of PUC Goiás, Goiania, Brazil, whether quality of life was higher or lower among veteran or first-year participants of the UnATI, and to evaluate if there was a statistically significant difference between the quality of life of men and women or first-years and veterans. Method: An observational case-control study with a quantitative approach was performed with 100 elderly individuals from the UnATI. Fifty first-years and fifty veterans were involved. Two questionnaires were applied, one with sociodemographic data and the other using the World Health Organization Quality of Life - Old (WHOQOL-OLD) scale, which evaluates the quality of life of the elderly. Variance analysis (ANOVA) and multivariate variance analysis (MANOVA) were performed, with p≤0.05 applied to the relevant statistics. Result: The vast majority of the sample were women (90%), aged between 60 and 86 years old (average of 68.37±5.28 years old). The overall quality of life score was 3.68±0.50 (first-years) and 3.87±0.55 (veterans). There was a statistically significant difference in the areas: sensory functioning (veterans =4.28±0.65 and first-years =3.95±0.80) (p=0.025) and past, present and future activity (veterans =4.0±0.72 and first-years =3.59±0.79) (p=0.008). Multivariate variance analysis identified that the overall quality of life scores of both men (veterans =3.15 and first-years =4.21) and women (veterans =3.78 and first-years =3.86), were highest after they became veteran students (p=0.007). Conclusion: Veterans had a higher quality of life than first-years. The continuing education provided by UnATI has a positive impact on the quality of life of the elderly. Resumo Objetivo: Verificar, em idosos da Universidade Aberta para Terceira Idade (UnATI) da PUC Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil, se a qualidade de vida é maior ou menor entre os veteranos participantes da UnATI e calouros, e avaliar se existe diferença estatística significativa entre homens e mulheres, calouros e veteranos na obtenção da qualidade de vida. Método: Estudo observacional de caso-controle com abordagem quantitativa realizado com 100 idosos da UnATI. Foram pesquisados 50 calouros e 50 veteranos e aplicados dois questionários, sendo um com dados sociodemográficos e o outro o World Health Organization Quality of Life - Old (WHOQOL-OLD) que avalia a qualidade de vida em idosos. Foram feitas análises descritivas (porcentagem,