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Quality of Life of Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Spain

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Quality of Life in Communities of Latin Countries

Part of the book series: Community Quality-of-Life and Well-Being ((CQLWB))

Abstract

Population aging is growing and, consequently, has attracted great interest in knowledge on the promotion of health and quality of life (QoL) in old age. In this context, a multidisciplinary team designed the CadeViMa Study, a cross-sectional study to assess the QoL of community-dwelling older people and to identify its associated factors. It incorporated a representative sample of 1106 people aged 60 years or older in Spain. QoL was assessed by means of a generic instrument for measuring health-related QoL (HRQoL), the EQ-5D, and a global QoL rating scale, the Personal Well-Being Index (PWI). The survey also gathered information on the sociodemographic, health-related, psychosocial, financial, and contextual characteristics of the participants. Results indicated that QoL of community-dwelling older adults was influenced by age, health status, loneliness, social support and disability. People aged 78 years or more reported a significantly lower QoL (PWI) than younger counterparts did. Logistic regression models showed that some chronic health conditions, such as osteoarticular or mental health disorders, and disability have a great impact on HRQoL and global QoL. Perceived loneliness and social support strongly influenced global QoL. Loneliness, in turn, was negatively associated to residential satisfaction. We also found that a high sense of coherence, a concept related to successful aging, is also associated to better QoL in old age. These results reflect the importance of the functional, social, mental, and contextual dimensions in the QoL of community-dwelling older adults, and may help to set the priorities of interventions addressed to preserve their QoL.

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Acknowledgements

The CadeViMa-Spain study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science & Innovation (ref: SEJ2006-15122-C007GEOG).

The members of the Spanish Group on Quality of Life and Ageing are:

Pablo Martinez-Martin, Maria João Forjaz and Carmen Rodriguez-Blazquez at Carlos III Institute of Health; Gloria Fernandez-Mayoralas and Fermina Rojo-Perez, at the Spanish National Research Council; María Eugenia Prieto-Flores, at National University of Distance Education (UNED); and Belen Frades-Payo at CIEN Foundation-Reina Sofia Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre of Epidemiology and CIBERNED, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain

    Carmen Rodríguez-Blázquez & Pablo Martínez-Martín

  2. Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography. Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain

    Gloria Fernández-Mayoralas & Fermina Rojo-Pérez

  3. National School of Public Health and REDISSEC, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain

    Maria João Forjaz

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  1. Carmen Rodríguez-Blázquez
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  2. Gloria Fernández-Mayoralas
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  3. Fermina Rojo-Pérez
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  4. Pablo Martínez-Martín
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  5. Maria João Forjaz
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Correspondence to Carmen Rodríguez-Blázquez .

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  1. Universidad de Palermo, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora Universidad de Palermo, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Graciela Tonon

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Rodríguez-Blázquez, C., Fernández-Mayoralas, G., Rojo-Pérez, F., Martínez-Martín, P., Forjaz, M.J. (2017). Quality of Life of Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Spain. In: Tonon, G. (eds) Quality of Life in Communities of Latin Countries. Community Quality-of-Life and Well-Being. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53183-0_14

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