The moderating effect of family socioeconomic status in the relationship between health-related behaviors and quality of life among the Hakka older adults in Fujian, China

Purpose This study examined the moderating effect of family socioeconomic status (SES) in the relationship between health-related behaviors and quality of life (QOL) among Hakka older adults from three levels: specific behaviors, the number of healthy behaviors, and behavior patterns. Methods A total of 1,262 participants aged 60 years or above were included in this study. The Chinese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Older Adults Module (WHOQOL-OLD) with six domains was used to measure the QOL. Two-Step Cluster Analysis (TCA) was employed to determine the health-related behaviors patterns. The generalized linear regression models were utilized to reveal the relationship between specific behaviors, the number of healthy behaviors and behavior patterns, and QOL. Results Sleep regularity (beta = 2.70, 95%CI 1.68, 3.72), physical exercise (beta = 5.61, 95%CI 4.50, 6.72) were associated with higher QOL. Moreover, the higher number of healthy behaviors (from 4 to 5) were more likely to experience higher QOL, the beta (95%CI) ranges from 5.08 (3.52, 6.64) to 5.82 (4.07, 7.57). Compared with the moderate-health pattern, risk-selective pattern (beta = 7.432, t = 2.343, P < 0.05) and family SES (beta = 4.691, t = 6.356, P < 0.001) were positively related to QOL. And the family SES exclusively moderated the risk-selective pattern (beta = - 2.552, t = - 2.378 P < 0.05) on QOL. Conclusion Maintaining healthy behaviors is closely related to a better QOL. Potential benefits of the active management of healthy behavior may improve the QOL of Hakka older adults.