Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal

Population aging is caused by the decrease in the rate of mortality and fertility and the increase in life expectancy. One of the most important factors determining the quality of life in old age is the health status of the elderly, which decreases with ageing. Having a healthy lifestyle is important for reducing the prevalence of health problems, improving health, adapting to stressful conditions, and improving the quality of life. Health disorders such as chronic diseases are more common in old age than in other periods. This study aims to determine the effect of the lifestyle on the quality of life and general health of the elderly living in Ahvaz, Iran.
Methods
This descriptive survey study was performed on 1000 older people over 60 years of age in Ahvaz city in 2020 who were selected by a multi-stage sampling method from different centers for the elderly (e.g., private and governmental retirement fund centers, and municipalities) and nursing homes. Prior to the study, after explaining the study objectives and methods, informed consent was obtained from the participants and they were assured of the confidentiality of their information. The inclusion criteria were age ≥60 years, residence in Ahvaz city, ability to communicate, and willingness to participate in the study. The exclusion criteria were unwillingness to continue participation, any mental illness (according to the medical records), severe depression, and cognitive disorders. The data were collected using a demographic form (surveying age, marital status, gender), the lifestyle questionnaire (LSQ) with 35 items, the older people’s quality of life (OPQOL) questionnaire with 19 items, and the general health questionnaire (GHQ) with 59 items. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, frequency, and percentage) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation test or Spearman correlation test). The significance level was set at 0.05. Finally, to test the theoretical model of the study, structural equation modeling was performed in AMOS software.
Results
The mean age of participants was 69.5±6.5 years, of whom 50.9% were female. Most of them (51%) were overweight and 23% had obesity. In terms of insurance coverage, 56.3% had social security insurance, 25.5% had health insurance, and the rest had other insurances. The majority (59.8%) had lower than high school education and were married (65.6%), The majority (84.8%) were living with their families and only 1.6% were living in nursing homes or other places. They had a history of smoking (16.5%), high blood pressure (60.8%), joint pain (49.0%), high blood fat (40.1%), and diabetes (34.0%). Tmean forwasranged from 0 to
All t coefficients for the factorial structure of the study model were greater than 1.96 and, thus, all study hypotheses were confirmed. The results showed that the lifestyle of the elderly had a significant effect on their general health. Based on the standard coefficients, the physical, spiritual, mental, and social health domains of GHQ had a direct relationship with health problems.
The result of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that health problems had a significant relationship with physical health, quality of life, social health, and lifestyle with standardized coefficients of -0.46, 0.99, 1.23 and 0.57, respectively (P<0.05). Based on the value of the coefficient of determination, physical health, social health, and lifestyle could explain the health problems by 21%, 24% and 33%, respectively. For the lifestyle model, the root mean square error of approximation was 0.046, indicating that the model had an acceptable fit.
Discussion
The results of this study showed a direct and significant relationship between the overall lifestyle score and the quality of life of the elderly; by improving the lifestyle of the elderly, their quality of life can increase. In old age, healthy lifestyle is influential and plays an important role in increasing life expectancy, quality of life, and physical and mental health of the elderly. It is necessary to increase the knowledge of healthy lifestyle in the elderly living in Ahvaz city by using educational programs for them such as stress management training, healthy nutrition education, and recreational and sports programs.
Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch (Code: IR.IAU.CTB.REC.1401.008).
Funding
The paper was extracted from the PhD. dissertation of the first author at the Department of Social Sciences, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran.
Authors contributions
Conceptualization, methodology, edited and finalized: Abdolreza Najafi, Mansour Sharifi, and Ali Pejhan; Research and review: Abdolreza Najafi, Mansour Sharifi; Statistical analysis: Mansour Sharifi, and Ali Pejhan; Drafting: Abdolreza Najafi.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.