Repeated Cross-sectional Studies On Quality Of Life And Its Influencing Factors For The Elderly In One Rural Area Of Anhui Province

Objective With the acceleration of the aging population,how to protect and improve quality of life(QOL)for the elderly especially for the rural elderly has become the focus issues of a harmonious society.In order to provide the scientific basis for the improvement of the QOL among rural elderly,we investigate the status of QOL among rural elderly in Ma'anshan,Anhui Province,and explore its influencing factors.Methods The study was performed in administrative villages in Dangtu County of Ma'anshan,Anhui Province.Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted from October to December 2014 and August to October 2016,and the elderly in this area were selected by cluster sampling method.These people who repeatedly attended two cross-sectional surveys comprised a closed-cohort.All participants were face-to-face interviewed via questionnaires,including the general socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire,Geriatric Depression Scale-15(GDS-15),Activity of Daily Living Scale(ADL),Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS)and World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF Scale(WHOQOL-BREF).SPSS 23.0(SPSS Inc.,USA)was used to conduct data analysis.Results In the two cross-sectional studies,3182 and 3048 old people were selected respectively,and 945 old people repeatedly attended this two surveys.(1)The elderly had higher QOL total score and scores for four domains at the second survey than thefirst survey.Comparing general characteristics of the elderly between the two surveys,our study found that age,education level,economic status,depression,activity of daily living and social support of the elderly were different between the two surveys(P <0.05).(2)Factors associated with QOL among the rural elderly identified by multiple linear regression analysis in the first survey showed that education level,economic status,chronic disease class,depression,activity of daily living and social support were associated with QOL total score and scores for four domains of the elderly.Age was only associated with physical and social domains.Gender was associated with total QOL and environmental domain.Smoking status was associated with total QOL and physical domain.Drinking status was associated with total QOL and physical,psychological,environmental domains.In addition,household cohabitants was associated with total QOL and physical,environmental domains.Marital status was only associated with social domain.(3)Factors associated with QOL among the rural elderly identified by multiple linear regression analysis in the second survey showed that economic status,chronic disease class,depression,activity of daily living and social support were associated with QOL total score and scores for four domains of the elderly.Household cohabitants and drinking status were only associated with total QOL and physical domain.Age was associated with total QOL and physical,environmental domains.Gender was associated with total QOL and psychological,environmental domains.Education level was associated with total QOL and psychological,social domains.Marital status was associated with total QOL and social,environmental domains.In addition,there was no statistical association between smoking status and QOL.(4)Factors associated with QOL among the rural elderly identified by generalized estimating equation(GEE)in the closed-cohort showed that age,gender,education level,economic status,marital status,drinking status,chronic disease class,depression,activity of daily living and social support were associated with QOL total score and scores for four domains of the rural elderly.In addition,householdcohabitants was associated with total QOL and social,environmental domains.Smoking status was associated with total QOL and physical,psychological,environmental domains.Conclusions The QOL of the rural elderly in one town of Dangtu county in Ma'anshan,Anhui Province has improved,but the overall is still in the low level.Multiple factors can affect their QOL,such as age,gender,education level,economic status,and so on.Therefore,positive and effective measures should be taken to improve QOL of the rural elderly based on these findings.