Environment and quality of life of older people

Introduction: Quality of life (QoL) is an individual's perception of his or her position in life in the context of the culture and value system where they live, and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. World health organization (WHO) identified four broad domains as being universally relevant to quality of life, namely physical health, psychological well-being, social relationships, and environment. Aim: The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between environmental domain of QoL and socio-demographic characteristics of older people and to determine the association between environmental domain and self-reported QoL and health satisfaction. Material and Methods: The World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF), developed by WHO was used to assess quality of life on random sample of 200 people aged 60 years and over who live in Retirement Home in Novi Sad. Items within the questionnaire were organized into four domains: Physical, Psychological, Social Relationships and Environment. Results: The majority of the participants were females (69.8%). The mean age was 79.2 years (SD=6.6 years). The mean value of the Environmental domain score (EDS) was 67.8 (on scale 0-100). Information (Q13) and home environment (Q23) were the two highest scoring items. There were no statistically significant differences between the mean EDS of the participants with regard to socio-demographic characteristics. Mean EDS of the participants who had some kind of disease were significantly lower than those who had not (p<0.05). Participants who had higher mean of EDS statistically significant better rated their quality of life (F=17.7; p<0.001) and those who had the highest value of EDS were very satisfied with their health (F=15.1; p<0.001). Conclusion: Elderly people who have a chronic disease have a significantly lower average value of EDS. Older people who better assess the environment are more satisfied with their health and have a better quality of life.