Quality of life and its influencing factors among the elderly in rural Bazhong of Sichuan province

ObjectiveTo investigate the status of quality of life (QOL) and its influencing factors among rural elderly in rural Bazhong of Sichuan province.MethodsA total of 1 183 elderly persons from 8 villages were selected with random cluster sampling.The quality of life was measured with the Medical Outcomes Study Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36).A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect information on demography,health status and relevant factors simultaneously.ResultsThe total QOL score of the subjects was 63.55±15.36 (95%confidence interval 95%CI=62.67-64.42) and the scores for physical health and mental health were 62.23±17.00 (95%CI=61.26-63.20) and 64.56±16.92 (95%CI=63.60-65.53),respectively.The scores for dimensions from to low high were 56.32±17.46 for general health,59.12±19.32 for vitality,59.55±30.15 for role-physical,62.35±23.00 for physical function,62.78±19.67 for mental health,67.75±32.97 for role-emotional,72.75±21.80 for social functioning,and 74.65±21.53 for bodily pain,respectively.Multivaritate analyses suggested that age,education,mar status,illness within two weeks,living style,life satisfaction,and social support degree affected physical component summary score;age,gender,education,marital status,economic status,illnesses within two weeks,chronic disease,living style,life satisfaction,social support degree and children filial piety degree influenced mental component summary score.ConclusionThis survey showed that the QOL of rural elderly in rural Bazhong of Sichuan province was poor and several demographic factors and other determinants could affect the QOL of the elderly.