Quality of life of the geriatric population of El Oro, Ecuador, in times of pandemic

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the perception of quality of life in the geriatric population of the El Oro province, Ecuador, during confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out with adults over 65 years old (n = 399), using the WHOQOL-BREF. The general questions were correlated with the domains of the questionnaire: physical and psychological health, social relationships, and environment, and also with sociodemographic factors. Cronbach's alpha was 0.90. The tests performed were the chi-square test, to demonstrate a significant association between sociodemographic variables; the Mann-Whitney U test, to evaluate differences between demographics and domains; and the Spearman correlition coefficient. The mean +/- standard deviation for the physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains was 2,99 +/- 0,60; 3,16 +/- 0,79; 2,87 +/- 0,74; 2,92 +/- 0,77, respectively. A significant association was found between quality of life and health with all domains (p = 0.01), with higher values in the domains: psychological health and environment. The lowest rated items were finances, leisure activities, and negative feelings (environmental and psychological domains). Those who reported a worse quality of life and worse scores in all items were: the older population, the male gender, the unemployed, and those who were sick, widowed, or unread. The main factors that showed a negative impact on the health and quality of life of the geriatric population in the confinement stage of the were environmental and factors.