Assessment of Quality of Life among Elderly Patients in an Outpatient Department in Coimbatore: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Background: The improvement of medical technologies and healthcare delivery systems has given rise to increased life expectancy of human beings. The care takers of the elderly are ignoring the difficulties faced by their elderly dependents. It is the crucial period to assess their physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains and improve the quality of life of the elderly to lead a healthier and satisfied life.

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to assess the quality of life among elderly patients, assess the significant contribution of the physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains to the quality of life among elderly patients, and find the association between the quality of life among elderly patients with their demographic variables.

Methodology:  A descriptive study was conducted in an outpatient department in Coimbatore. Two hundred and forty samples (120 Men and 120 women) were selected by using a Purposive Sampling Technique at a tertiary care hospital in Coimbatore. A modified WHOQOL - BRIEF questionnaire about quality of life of elderly was used to obtain data from samples.

Conclusion: Friedman test reveals that the quality of life of elderly was foremost influenced by the environmental domain (mean rank = 3.30) and the Chi Square test score 188.579 (p<0.0001) was inferred that the four domains of health were strongly influenced the quality of life of the elderly. The mean value (23.9702) shows that those samples belonged to 60-69 years age group had a higher level of quality of life compared to other age groups. Older men had a higher quality of life than older women.