The self-perceptions of aging were an important factor associated with the quality of life in Chinese elderly with hypertension.

Background: In China, quality of life (QOL) of the elderly with hypertension was lower than that of normal elderly and lower self-perceptions of aging (SPA) in the elderly with chronic diseases have been shown. Previous studies showed that SPA played a key role in QOL of the elderly. We hypothesised that SPA were associated with QOL in Chinese elderly with hypertension, with more negative SPA predicting lower QOL.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in one comprehensive hospital, 15 urban community clinics and 22 rural village clinics in Suzhou. In total, 1029 Chinese elderly with hypertension completed the self-administered questionnaires, including socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, aging perceptions questionnaire which contained seven dimensions and Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey evaluating QOL which included physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS).

Results: Correlation analysis between SPA and QOL showed that most dimensions of SPA were correlated with PCS and MCS, except for Emotional Representations not correlated with MCS. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed: the dimensions Timeline Chronic (B = -2.651, P < 0.001), Consequences Negative (B = -2.155, P < 0.001) and Emotional Representations (B = -2.672, P < 0.001) had a negative association with PCS, while Timeline Cyclical (B = 1.401, P = 0.023), Consequences Positive (B = 1.200, P = 0.011) and Control Positive (B = 1.425, P = 0.004) had a positive association with PCS; the dimensions Timeline Cyclical (B = -1.734, P < 0.001) and Consequences Negative (B = -1.646, P < 0.001) had a negative association with MCS, while Timeline Chronic (B = 1.313, P < 0.001), Consequences Positive (B = 0.962, P = 0.012), Control Positive (B = 2.453, P < 0.001) and Control Negative (B = 1.860, P < 0.001) had a positive association with MCS.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that negative SPA tended to be associated with lower QOL in Chinese elderly with hypertension. Some measures to improve unhealthy negative SPA should be delivered to improve QOL in Chinese elderly with hypertension.