AI Article Synopsis

  • The study examined how chronic illnesses affect the quality of life (QOL) in elderly individuals living in the community, over a span of four years.
  • A sample of 2,762 elderly participants completed QOL questionnaires that measured various aspects, including health satisfaction and daily activity, and were grouped based on the presence of chronic conditions.
  • Results indicated that those with chronic illnesses had lower QOL scores, particularly in health satisfaction, and there were notable changes in QOL over time across different groups, suggesting a need for comprehensive assessments of elderly QOL.

Article Abstract

Aim: Chronic illnesses are common among elderly people, and may considerably affect to their quality of life (QOL). We investigated the impact of chronic conditions on QOL among community-dwelling elderly people, and the stability of QOL over time.

Methods: A total of 2,762 community-dwelling elderly persons (men: 47.0%, age 76.7±5.8 [mean±SD]) completed postal QOL questionnaires twice over 4 years. Chronic illnesses were selected from the following 9 conditions: cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus, bone fracture, chronic digestive disease, chronic respiratory disease, and the diseases of joints or muscles. The QOL questionnaire was developed based on the QOL components proposed by Lawton, and consisted of 6 subscales: daily activity, health satisfaction, human support satisfaction, economic state satisfaction, symptoms of depression, and positive mental attitude. The subjects were divided into 3 groups regardless of the presence of chronic illnesses. QOL subscale scores were compared among the 3 groups, and fluctuations over 4 years were also evaluated.

Results: The baseline QOL scores showed significant differences among the 3 groups, especially regarding health satisfaction, but not in satisfaction with human support. There were significant differences among the 3 groups in fluctuations over 4 years in health satisfaction, daily activity, and positive mental attitude.

Conclusions: Chronic illnesses have a negative impact on the QOL of elderly people, and also influence fluctuations in QOL over time. Degrees of impacts differed according to each QOL subscale. Therefore, evaluation of QOL in community-dwelling elderly needs multi-dimensional assessment.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.3143/geriatrics.47.308DOI Listing

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