Assessment of Quality of Life among Elderly of Tumkur City

Ageing is a normal inevitable, biological and universal phenomenon, generally 60 and above years is used to refer to the elderly population. In India proportion of older persons has risen 5.5 percent in 1951 to 6.5 percent in 1991, 7.7 in 2001 and projected 12 percent in 2025. In this regard, its time now to assess their quality of life which is an holistic approach towards their life.

To assess quality of life of elderly aged 60 years and above in urban area of Tumkur using WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and to study various factors associated with their quality of life.

Urban field practice area of Department of Community Medicine was the study area and all elderly men and women aged 60 years and above who were willing to participate in the study and residing in the field practice area for more than 1 year were included in the study. Total of 240 members were included in the study and duration of study was between June 2015 to August 2015.

About 75% of the study subjects were in the age group of 60–70 years. The mean domain score was more for Social relationship (58.28 ±4.96) as compared to others which was 52.41± 6.20 for Psychological domain, 52.06 ±5.22 for Environmental domain and 49.51±7.22 for Physical domain. The mean score for physical domain was more for females (57.0± 7.5) as compared to males (52.5±5.7) which was statistically significant whereas other domains did not have statistically significant difference scores. The psychological domain score was more in age group 60–69 as compared to old which was significant.

The quality of life was average among elderly in all domains.an holistic approach in their development is need of the day in order to have a healthy n independent aged in the community.