Quality of life and its influencing factors among urban elderly in Anshan city

Objective To investigate the quality of life and associated factors among the urban elderly aged 65 years and over in Anshan city of Liaoning province and to provide evidences for the promotion of active aging.Methods A cross-sectional study was performed in Anshan city.Totally 1 501 permanent residents aged ≥65 years in Qianshan,Tiedong,and Tiexi district and Xiuyan county were selected and interviewed face-to-face by using cluster random sampling.After screening with Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE),1 376 participants without cognitive defect were surveyed with a self-designed questionnaire and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-Item Health Survey(SF-36).Results The scores of SF-36 were 61.03±23.81 for physical functioning(PF),44.82±40.84 for role-physical(RP),61.78±16.90 for bodily pain(BP),44.47±18.19 for general health(GH),62.44±13.82 for vitality(VT),60.48±20.84 for social functioning(SF),48.16±42.39 for role-emotional(RE),and 62.91±13.28 for mental health(MH),respectively.The scores of physical component summary(PCS)and mental component summary(MCS)were 53.02±19.53 and 58.50±16.56.General linear model analyses showed that the elderly without chronic disease,having good neighborhood relationship,taking a walk ≥3 times/week,with good visual ability,high sleeping quality,and good hearing ability,married or cohabitated,being a non-smoker,and with pension had higher scores of PCS;whereas the elderly without chronic disease,with high sleeping quality,married or cohabitated,taking regular diet,watching television frequently,taking a walk≥3 times/week,with good hearing ability,and being a non-smoker had higher scores of MCS.However,the minority elderly had a lower score of MCS.Conclusion The quality of life of the urban elderly aged 65 years and over in Anshan city was low.Health status is the most crucial influencing factors.Demographic characteristics,social support and individual behavior also have considerable effect on quality of life in the elderly.