The importance of facets of quality of life to older adults: An international investigation

Anita Molzahn, Suzanne M. Skevington, Mary Kalfoss, Kara Schick Makaroff

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Purpose To describe the relative importance of 38 facets of quality of life (QOL) to older adults in 22 countries, by gender, age group, and health status. Methods A secondary analysis of data was conducted from the WHOQOL-Old pilot study. Questionnaires were distributed by mail or in person. Independent t-tests for differences between means were calculated between importance scores by genders, age groups, and healthy/ unhealthy participants. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to identify which QOL facets explained importance of overall QOL. Results Of 7,401 older adults from 22 countries (mean 73.1 years), 57.8% were women and 70.1% were 'healthy'. While there are significant differences in the importance of various facets of QOL on the basis of gender, age, and health status, when these variables were controlled in a stepwise multiple regression analysis, the most important QOL facets were having energy, being happy, having wellfunctioning senses, and being free from pain. Conclusion It appears that many of the physical aspects of QOL such as energy, freedom from pain, ability to do activities of daily living and to move around are particularly important to older adults. Practitioners should give greater attention to energy, sensory abilities, and pain.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)293-298
    Number of pages5
    JournalQuality of Life Research
    Volume19
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2010

    Keywords

    • Ageing
    • Cross-cultural comparisons
    • Quality of life
    • World Health Organization

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