Abstract
BackgroundNursing home elders experience many problems that may influence their quality of life, in example of cognitive, mental, nutritional and physical disabilities. Concerning about elders’ wellbeing may help them living with dignity. This study aimed to investigate factors associated with Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of institutionalized elders in a capital city of Brazilian Northeast.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted with 125 institutionalized elders living in the metropolitan region of João Pessoa (Brazil). The following variables were tested regarding their association with the elders’ HRQoL: Socio-demographic characteristics; Performance of daily-living activities, Frailty status, Cognitive status, Nutritional status, Self-perception of oral health and Depression status. Hierarchical multiple Poisson loglinear and binary logistic regressions analyses were performed in order to assess the impact of each independent variable on HRQoL, considering a significance level of 5%.ResultsThe median of HRQoL of institutionalized elders was 64. Multivariate regression models showed that retirement, frailty and depression were statistically associated with poor HRQoL (p < 0.05). Not-frail elderly and less depressed were more likely to present higher HRQoL scores.ConclusionsLower HRQoL of institutionalized elderly is associated with decline of physical and psychological states. Institutions should be advised to plan and implement actions that would improve the HRQoL of institutionalized elderly.
Highlights
Nursing home elders experience many problems that may influence their quality of life, in example of cognitive, mental, nutritional and physical disabilities
The results from this study point out retirement, frailty and depression are factors significantly associated with lower Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of institutionalized elderly
Better HRQoL is necessary for institutionalized elderly live with dignity
Summary
Nursing home elders experience many problems that may influence their quality of life, in example of cognitive, mental, nutritional and physical disabilities. This study aimed to investigate factors associated with Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of institutionalized elders in a capital city of Brazilian Northeast. A significant demographic transition has been experienced worldwide due to declining birth rates and increasing life expectancy, leading to an increase in the elderly population [1]. This phenomenon is progressing fast in Brazil, and this may undertake Brazilian elderly population to rank sixth in 2020 [2]. The Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is not a single entity, but a complex state comprised of several domains, including physical, emotional, spiritual, cognitive and social wellbeing [7]. Socioeconomic and sociodemographic aspects of the social environment can strongly influence the HRQoL [8]
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