Quality of Life and Health Problems of the elderly People in an Aging Society Chanthaburi Province

Abstract

This descriptive research aimed to study quality of life and health problems of the elderly people in an aging society in Chanthaburi Province. Samples consisted of 398 older adults, aged 60 years and over, selected by stratified random sampling according to the 10 administrative districts, followed by simple random sampling within each district. Research instruments included a demographic questionnaire and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF-THAI), which demonstrated good reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.89. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The results revealed that the majority of the participants were females (78.89%), aged 60-69 years (80.90%), with an mean age of 66 years (SD=5.32). Most of them had primary education (46.98%), were married (54.27%), worked as general laborers (29.15%), and had a monthly income of more than 5,000 baht (45.98%). Overall quality of life was at a moderate level (79.40%), with a mean score of 3.37 (SD=0.84). Among the quality-of-life domains, the environmental domain had the highest mean score, followed by psychological health, social relationships, and physical health, respectively. Regarding health problems, most participants had underlying diseases (77.39%). The most common conditions were hypertension, followed by comorbid diabetes mellitus and hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. Other reported health problems included numbness of hands and feet, musculoskeletal pain, and insomnia.

The findings suggested that relevant public health agencies should continuously develop and promote health care programs for older adults, such as age-appropriate physical exercise, prevention and control of chronic diseases, and rehabilitation services, in order to enhance the quality of life of the elderly.