Quality of life in Elderly Women, a Neglected Issue in Primary Health Care System: A Population Based Study in Shiraz, Iran

Introduction: Elderly (more than 60 years) population of the world will be nearly doubled from 12% in 2012 to 22% in 2050. According to the last national census of Iran in 2016, elderly adults constitutes 7414091(9.27%) of total population (79926270); including 3658405(49%) males and 3755686 (51%) females. Thus, elderly women are more than half of the community elderly. On the other hand quality of life (QOL) has attracted more attention than before. Therefore thisstudy was conducted to assess the QOL in elderly women who are under coverage of Integrated Geriatric Care Program by public health centers. Methods: This 1.5 years population based screening survey was conducted in 2016-2017 and 216 elderly women were selected through a multistage cluster sampling method and filling LIPAD questionnaire by face to face interview the QOL of elderly women was assessed. Data were analyzed in SPSS using parametric and non-parametric univariate ( when indicated) and multiple linear regression. Results: Mean age of participants was 68.1±6.2 (60-90) years. Total score of QOL was (68/65) and the three dimensions of physical function, self-care and mental performance had the lowestscore, contrary to better quality of life in depression and anxiety and sexual function dimensions. Conclusions: Elderly women had an average quality of life in this study. Due to low quality of life in the dimension of physical function, self-care and mental performance, educational programs should be designed to improve this dimension of quality of life in elderly women. Also government should designing programs like, making suitable sports places for the elderly, create occupations appropriate to old age to improve physical function and mental performance in this group

Keywords:

quality of life , Elderly women , Health Care