A STUDY OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN ELDERLY PEOPLE USING PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

• Published in: International journal of geriatric psychiatry 1997-06, Vol.12 (6), p.599-608
• Main Authors: NAGATOMO, ITSUGI, KITA, KENJI, TAKIGAWA, MORIKUNI, NOMAGUCHI, MITSUO, SAMESHIMA, KAZUKO
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Aged - psychology; Aged, 80 and over - psychology; Analysis of Variance; Bender Gestalt test; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition Disorders - complications; Cornell Medical Index; Cost of Illness; Cross-Sectional Studies; Developmental psychology; elderly; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geriatric Assessment - statistics & numerical data; Health Status; Homes for the Aged - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Japan; Kohs block design test; Linear Models; Male; Mini Mental State Examination; Neurotic Disorders - complications; Nursing Homes - statistics & numerical data; Philadelphia Geriatric Center Moral Scale; Psychological Tests - statistics & numerical data; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Quality of Life; Severity of Illness Index
• ISSN: 0885-6230; 1099-1166
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1166(199706)12:6<599::AID-GPS505>3.0.CO;2-E

To study factors which influence the quality of life (QOL) in the elderly, we investigated the relationship between scores on the modified Philadelphia Geriatric Center (JPGC) Morale Scale and various other psychological tests in 51 elderly people residing in a long‐term care facility. The JPGC Morale Scale score correlated with the scores for all sections of the Japanese version of the Cornell Medical Index (JCMI), but not with those for the Mini Mental State Examination, the Kohs block design test, the Bender Gestalt test and the activities of daily living (ADL). Both somatic and psychotic symptoms on the JCMI were correlated with the dementia behaviour disturbance scale score and walking ability according to the ADL. Subjects were further divided into four groups according to Fukamachi's neurotic discriminative diagram based on the JCMI. Scores for most sections of somatic and psychotic symptoms on the JCMI were elevated in proportion to the degree of neurotic tendencies in the elderly. These results indicate that the QOL of the elderly is influenced by subjective symptoms, but not by the degree of cognitive impairment or the ADL.