Abstract:
Sri Lanka is a one of the fastest aging country
in the world. Quality of life is the most appropriate one
to examine, the well-being of elderly people. The aim
of this study was to assess the Quality of life and socio
demographic and health related determinants among
elderly people living in Nallur D.S division. A community
based descriptive cross sectional study was conducted
among 212 elderly people living in their houses. The
sample was selected using stratified random sampling
technique and participants were interviewed by using an
interviewer administered questionnaire. Quality of life
was measured by the modified Older People’s Quality
of Life Questionnaire (OPQOL). The determinants of
Quality of life among elderly population were assessed
using Chi square test. In this study male participants
(61.3%) were higher than the female (38.7%) and most
of the participants fell under the age group of 70-79 years
(45.8%). Majority of the participants were married (65.1%)
and 80.7% of participants were living with their spouse
and children. Nearly half of the (51%) of participants
have studied uptoprimary education and nearly 40%
of them indicated that their monthly family income was
below 15,000/-. More than half of participants (59.4%)
rated their health as positive. The most prevalent chronic
medical problems were Cataract (30.7%), Hypertension
(30.7%) and Diabetic Mellitus (29.2%).The total Quality
of life mean score was 132.8 (SD +/- 12.753) out of 180.
Factors such as gender, age, marital status, educational
level, employment status, living arrangement, monthly
family income, Self-Rated Health and presence of chronic
medical problems shows the significant relationship with
the Quality of life of the participants. It is concluded that
the elderly population living in Nallur D. S. Division
experience a Neutral level of Quality of life and plan
appropriate interventions to improve Quality of life of
the elderly people.
