Relationship between chronic disease and quality of life among the elderly in Fuzhou city

Objective To assess the prevalence of chronic diseases and its relationship with the quality of life among the elderly in Fuzhou city for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases and the improvement of quality of life among the elderly.Methods With stratified random sampling method,3 285 old people aged 60 years or elder were selected from 12 communites and investigated with a questionnaire and the MOS 36-item short-form health survey(SF-36).Results Among the elderly,2 134 had chronic diseases with a prevalence rate of 64.96%,the comobidity of two chronic diseases of 26.24%,and three chronic diseases of 16.64%,respectively.The top 10 chronic diseases(prevalence rate) were high blood pressure(48.28%),diabetes(19.06%),coronary heart disease(9.8%),bone joint disease(4.02%),stroke(3.01%),chronic gastrointestinal diseases(2.56%),cataracts(2.34%),chronic bronchitis(2.25%),pulmonary heart disease(1.31%),and malignant tumors(0.85%).The elderly without chronic disease had higher scores of physiological function,physical performance,physical pain,general health,vitality,social function,role-emotional,mental health,physiological health,and the total score of quality of life than those with chronic diseases(P < 0.01).There were statistical significances in the score of every dimention among the elderly with different chronic diseases(P < 0.05) and the nunber of the chronic diseases was negatively correlated with the score of each dimension.There were also statistical significances in the score of qulaity among the elderly with different chronic diseases(P < 0.01).Conclusion The quality of life in the elderly are severely affected by both the kind and severity of chronic diseases.