Abstract
BackgroundConsidering the lack of studies that examine built environmental factors associated with life satisfaction among old people in developing countries, particularly those focused on Brazil, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of life satisfaction among old adults residents in a Brazilian urban center and to investigate its association with individual characteristics and objective measures of the built environment.MethodsA household survey (N = 832) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil (2008–2009) and a Systematic Social Observation (SSO) was used in this study. Life satisfaction was assessed through Self-Anchoring Ladder Scale, developed by Cantril, in 1965. Participants’ answers were categorized as satisfied (rungs 6–10) and dissatisfied (rungs 0–5). A Multilevel Poisson regression analysis with robust variance was performed.ResultsThe prevalence of satisfaction with life was approximately 82%. Higher prevalence of life satisfaction was significantly associated with old people who reported higher incomes, higher religious participation, who practice physical activity and who perceive their health as good and very good. In contextual level, results showed that when the contextual features were adjusted separately by the individual characteristics they were no longer significant. The results also showed a lower prevalence of life satisfaction among those living in neighborhoods with higher physical disorder, even after adjusting for individual and other contextual characteristics.ConclusionsThe present findings suggest that life satisfaction should be assessed whenever evaluating urban redevelopment programs designed to improve neighborhood characteristics, reducing physical disorder, especially among old adults.
Highlights
Considering the lack of studies that examine built environmental factors associated with life satisfaction among old populations in urban Latin America, those focused on Brazil, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of life satisfaction among old adults residents in a Brazilian urban center and to investigate its association with individual characteristics and objective measures of the built environment
Bivariate analysis showed a positive dose-response between schooling and life satisfaction; that is, as the number of years of school education increases, there is an increase in the prevalence of old people who are satisfied with life
This study aimed to investigate the association of life satisfaction with individual characteristics and objective measures of the built environment among old population living in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Summary
Considering the lack of studies that examine built environmental factors associated with life satisfaction among old people in developing countries, those focused on Brazil, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of life satisfaction among old adults residents in a Brazilian urban center and to investigate its association with individual characteristics and objective measures of the built environment. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [3] life satisfaction “measures how people evaluate their lives as a whole rather than their current feelings”. Life satisfaction closely relates to health [5], as an important predictor of mortality, morbidity, depression, and health status over the life course [6,7,8,9] This link is especially pronounced in older people because the aging period is frequently accompanied by illnesses, disabilities, and dependency for care and support [5, 10]. There are ongoing research efforts to identify its associated factors that may help to reach the ideal aging model [11]
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