The Quality of Life among Elderly People: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: There is a rapid increase in the population of the elderly globally. In conjunction with the transition of the nation toward ageing population, the Quality of Life (QoL) among elderly should be maintain or improved to good level. The present study aim to investigate the relationship between appetite, anthropometric characteristic and QoL among elderly people admitted at Heshmat hospital in Rasht, Iran. Materials & Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among 220people aged 60 years or more admitted in Heshmat hospital of Rasht by consensus sampling. Data on age, monthly income and marital status were collected using questionnaire guided face-to-face Interviewed by trained researcher. Appetite was measured with Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire, height with meter, weight with weighing scale, waist circumference with measuring tape and quality of life with Short Form-36 questionnaire. The findings were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and SPSS version 16 software. Results: The result show that the majority of people were classified as good appetite, obese and large waist circumference. Role limitations due to emotional problems domain was highest mean score of QoL, while physical functioning domain the lowest mean score of QoL. Appetite (r = 0.260; p < 0.001), body mass index (r = -0.136; p < 0.001) and waist circumference (r = -0.191; p = 0.002) were correlated with physical component summary of QoL. Conclusion: Most of the elderly do not have physical activity, are at good level of appetite, in obesity weight group, high risk of co-morbidities based on waist circumference measurement and at sensible level of QoL. Furthermore, as appetite, body mass index and waist circumference do have relation with physical component summary of QoL, thus, it is essential to enter those factors as domain in planning health promotion program with aimed to increase QoL level among the elderly.

Keywords: Quality of Life, Elderly, Body Mass Index