Health-related quality of life and associated factors in functionally independent older people

• Published in: BMC geriatrics 2017-01, Vol.17 (1), p.19-19, Article 19
• Main Authors: Machón, Mónica, Larrañaga, Isabel, Dorronsoro, Miren, Vrotsou, Kalliopi, Vergara, Itziar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Chronic illnesses; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Geriatrics; Health aspects; Health care; Health Status; Humans; Independent Living; Life Style; Logistic Models; Male; Older people; Pain Measurement; Physiological aspects; Public health; Quality of Life; Social aspects; Social interactions; Social support; Sociodemographics; Spain; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1471-2318; 1471-2318
• DOI: 10.1186/s12877-016-0410-3

Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is a key indicator of elderly people's health status that can be affected by different factors. However, little is known about which variables are associated with it in functionally independent elderly people. The aim of this project was to study HRQL and a wide variety of health, lifestyle, social and contextual aspects and their relation to HRQL in a sample of functionally independent, non-cognitively impaired community-dwelling adults, over 65 years of age, from a northern region of Spain. A cross-sectional study for which data was collected by face-to-face interviews with the selected individuals. HRQL was measured with the EuroQol-5D scale, consisting of a 5 item descriptive system and a visual analogue scale (VAS). VAS values lower than 70 were considered poor HRQL. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors related to the outcome. Six hundred and thirty-four individuals were included in the study. The mean age was 74.8 (SD 6.7) years, 55% of the participants were women and 46% rated their HRQL as poor. Several variables were found to be significantly associated with a poor HRQL in the multivariate model, adjusted for age and sex: polypharmacy (OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.62-3.31), the presence of sensory impairment (OR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.24-2.69), not being engaged in cognitively stimulating activities (OR: 2.51, 95% CI: 1.03-6.16), or in group social activities (OR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.11-2.22), low level of social support (OR: 3.12, 95%CI: 1.78-5.46) and the presence of obstacles in the closest home environment (OR: 1.83, 95%CI: 1.11-3.02). The study identified a set of health, social and contextual variables as strongly related to HRQL in functionally independent community-dwelling older people. The results highlight the multidimensional nature of HRQL. They also reveal the importance of a comprehensive assessment of HRQL when designing adequate health-related programmes aiming to enhance active and healthy ageing and delay the onset of dependence.