Investigation on quality of life of retired workers from a medical college and policy suggestion

Abstract

Objectives Appraise the quality of retired workers' life of a medical college according to their income, livelihood, neighborhood relations, health condition and other related factors. Methods Fill in the Quality of Life Investigation Questionnaire when the retired workers are taking routine physical examination. Results 776 pieces of questionnaire were collected, making up 64.7% of the retired workers, which may represent the people of this kind. Out of the 776 retired workers, 597 are suffering from chronic diseases, making up 76.9%. Among them, 37.5% have one type of chronic disease, while 39.5% have two types and more. Among them, heart cerebrovascular diseases and hypertension sufferers occupy 80.6%, 63.3% of the overall prevalence rate. 42.2% are satisfied with their health condition, 9.6% are not, 48.2% with fair contentment. Those with positive view towards income take up only 41.4%, while negative 6.6%. As to the way of living, 375 are living either with a spouse or by oneself, making up 50.6% ,while 46.2% living by a core family with children and grandchildren or with a big family. 64.0% are able to take care of themselves. Among the 236 in need, 88.0% are taken care of by relatives, only 12% by social aids. About 82.5% enjoy a harmonious family life;only 0.5% are not. 83.0% keep a good neighborhood relationship, only 0.6% of them doesnt. Conclusion The overwhelming majority of the retired workers of senior teachers and scientific and technical personnel are living in a harmonious family or community. When they are in need, relatives are the main forces to help, social forces does not work much on it. Two items that below 50% of the satisfaction are income and health condition. So, we are looking forward to the improvement of these two aspects by the reform on social and medical insurance. Key words: Retired workers; Quality of life; Degree of satisfaction; Questionnaires; University