QUALITY OF LIFE

Quality of Life



Quality of Life

Introduction

Quality of life is a term used in a number of disciplines, and definitions and conceptualization varies from utility of health states to life satisfaction, and from possession of socially desirable characteristics to positive affect [1]. Quality of life has recently become commonly used both as a concept and as a field of research [2-5]. Studies have also demonstrated that older elderly people expressed higher life satisfaction/quality of life than younger ones.

There are many socio-demographic characteristics that may contribute to the quality of life such as age, socio-economic status, and marital status in older adults. Falls are one of the major health problems that effect the quality of life among older adults [2-5]. The Short-Form 36 (SF-36) is a widely used quality of life instrument. However, its length could affect response rates, particularly in older adults. The SF-12 has proved to be suitable for older adults because of the limited number of questions. The 12 items in SF-12 represent one physical component summary score and one mental component summary score and assess a person's perceived health-related quality of life.

Many factors were originally considered as possible risk factors for falls based on a review of currently available literature. These factors include age, number of chronic diseases, body composition, muscle strength, functional mobility and performance measures related to balance function [3,4,6].

Impaired balance and functional mobility are major risk factors for falls. There are many studies investigating the relationship between falling and contributory factors [7-13]. However, no study investigating the correlation between risk factors for falls and quality of life in older adults could be found.

Since falls and its consequences have a major role in quality of life, rehabilitation programs, which aim to decrease the risk of falling by considering all contributing factors such as muscle strength, flexibility and balance, have the potential to both decrease the risk of falling and improve the quality of life. Due to this interaction, the relationship between risk factors for falls and the quality of life becomes significant. Based on a review of literature, this study was designed to explore the relationship between the quality of life (Short Form-12) and risk factors for falls (balance, functional mobility, proprioception, muscle strength, flexibility and fear of falling) in older adults.

Risk Factors

The relationship between risk factors for falls and quality of life was investigated in older adults. Balance, functional mobility, muscle strength and fear of falling were shown to correlate with General Health Perception (SF-12) but no correlation was seen between proprioception and flexibility in relation to the General Health Survey (SF-12).

In the study, it was found that quality of life was not correlated with age. This result suggested that the quality of life does not change with aging but age affects the risk factors for falls.

While BMI increased, physical, mental and general health perception scores of SF-12 decreased. This relationship is important because increased BMI causes functional limitation and affects physical, mental and general health perception in older ...