Domains of importance to the quality of life of older people from two Swiss regions

Henchoz, Yves; Meylan, Lionel; Goy, René; Guessous, Idris; Bula, Christophe; Demont, Maurice; Rodondi, Nicolas; Santos-Eggimann, Brigitte (2015). Domains of importance to the quality of life of older people from two Swiss regions. Age and ageing, 44(6), pp. 979-985. Oxford University Press 10.1093/ageing/afv130

Preview

Text 979.full.pdf - Published Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (388kB) | Preview

BACKGROUND

Quality of life (QoL) is a subjective perception whose components may vary in importance between individuals. Little is known about which domains of QoL older people deem most important.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated in community-dwelling older people the relationships between the importance given to domains defining their QoL and socioeconomic, demographic and health status.

METHODS

Data were compiled from older people enrolled in the Lc65+ cohort study and two additional, population-based, stratified random samples (n = 5,300). Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to determine the underlying domains among 28 items that participants defined as important to their QoL. The components extracted were used as dependent variables in multiple linear regression models to explore their associations with socioeconomic, demographic and health status.

RESULTS

PCA identified seven domains that older persons considered important to their QoL. In order of importance (highest to lowest): feeling of safety, health and mobility, autonomy, close entourage, material resources, esteem and recognition, and social and cultural life. A total of six and five domains of importance were significantly associated with education and depressive symptoms, respectively. The importance of material resources was significantly associated with a good financial situation (β = 0.16, P = 0.011), as was close entourage with living with others (β = 0.20, P = 0.007) and as was health and mobility with age (β = -0.16, P = 0.014).

CONCLUSION

The importance older people give to domains of their QoL appears strongly related to their actual resources and experienced losses. These findings may help clinicians, researchers and policy makers better adapt strategies to individuals' needs.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

276 since deposited on 23 Mar 2016
38 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item