Abstract
The objectives were to identify factors associated with decreased life satisfaction in community-dwelling elderly and describe such factors according to gender and age bracket. The study interviewed 2,472 elderly individuals 65 years or older without cognitive deficits suggestive of dementia, in probabilistic samples from seven Brazilian cities. All measures were self-reported except for functional performance, indicated by handgrip and gait speed. Women had more chronic diseases, worse functional performance, and greater social involvement when compared to men. The oldest participants showed worse functional performance and less social involvement when compared to the youngest. Low satisfaction was associated with three or more diseases, memory problems, low social involvement, low handgrip strength, and urinary incontinence. The authors conclude that health, functional performance, and social involvement interact with well-being, so interventions targeting these areas can favor quality of life for the elderly.
Highlights
Life satisfaction results from the individuals’ overall cognitive assessment of their living conditions and achievements, comparing them to their needs and expectations and in light of their personal and sociocultural values 1
The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with low life satisfaction in Brazilian community-dwelling elderly, including gender, age, chronic diseases, memory problems, urinary incontinence, falls, measures of functional performance, and social involvement, indicated by performance in advanced activities of daily living (AADL)
To study the relations between independent variables and the dependent variable, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed, the latter with stepwise selection of variables, with a 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for the resulting risk ratios
Summary
Life satisfaction results from the individuals’ overall cognitive assessment of their living conditions and achievements, comparing them to their needs and expectations and in light of their personal and sociocultural values 1. Levels of satisfaction suffer the influence of adverse events that impact affective states, but these tend to return to baseline after the effects of the negative experiences have ceased. Old age is accompanied by increased likelihood of adverse events that affect well-being 2. There are no homogeneous data on the relations between gender and life satisfaction in old age, but the most common finding suggests that elderly women have lower levels of satisfaction than elderly men [2,3]. What influences satisfaction are gender-related physical and social conditions. Chronic illnesses, memory, self-rated health, social support, and social relations are the most relevant domains of life satisfaction. Income and family relations are the domains with the greatest impact on levels of satisfaction [3,4]
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