Quality of life in older Norwegian adults living at home: a cross-sectional survey

The term quality of life (QoL) has been used in nursing for several years despite having neither a common conceptual model nor a common definition. The Wilson and Cleary Model (WCM), defined in 1995, is used as a conceptual model to identify suitable variables important in planning nursing care in a study among Norwegian older adults. The objective of this study was to investigate how the relationships among depressive symptoms, physical function, health satisfaction, age and environment may predict QoL in a model based on the WCM. The overall model provides empirical evidence for linkages in the WCM. Results showed that QoL is likely to be influenced by the direct effects of environmental conditions, health satisfaction and age. In addition, environmental conditions and age had indirect effects on QoL, in particular via depressive symptoms. Environment had both a significant direct and an indirect effect on QoL. An indirect effect of environment on QoL was shown with depressive symptoms, physical function and perceived health as mediators. There was only a small amount of evidence for age predicting QoL. This model may help nurses and other health care workers to collect and assess information, to suggest suitable interventions and to guide decision making.