Quality of life of older Chinese adults receiving primary care in Wuhan, China: a multi-center study.

Background: Quality of life (QOL) is an important primary care outcome, but the QOL of older adults treated in primary care is understudied in China. This study examined QOL and its associated factors in older adults treated in Chinese primary care.

Methods: A total of 752 older patients (65+ years) were consecutively recruited from 13 primary care centers in Wuhan, China, and interviewed with a standardized questionnaire, concerning socio-demographics, major medical conditions, loneliness, and depression. QOL and depression were measured with the Chinese six-item QOL questionnaire and the shortened Geriatric Depression Scale, respectively. Multiple linear regression was used to identify factors associated with poor QOL.

Results: The average QOL score of primary care older adults was (20.7 ± 2.5), significantly lower than that of the Chinese general population. Factors significantly associated with poor QOL of Chinese primary care older adults included engaging in manual labor before older adulthood (unstandardized coefficient [β]: -0.702,  < 0.001), no living adult children (β: -1.720,  = 0.001), physical inactivity (β: -0.696,  < 0.001), having ≥ four major medical conditions (β: -1.813,  < 0.001), hearing problem (β: -1.004,  = 0.017), depression (β: -1.153,  < 0.001), and loneliness (β: -1.396,  < 0.001).

Conclusions: Older adults treated in Chinese primary care have poorer QOL than the general population. Addressing psychosocial problems at Chinese primary care settings could be helpful in improving QOL in Chinese older adults.