Health Perception Factors associated with Quality of Life among Elderly Dependents in Chanae District, Narathiwat Province, Thailand

Abstract

This cross-sectional descriptive research study aimed to examine the health perception factors associated with quality of life among elderly dependents. The sample size in this study consisted of 289 elderly dependents, who were registered in Chanae district, Narathiwat province, Thailand during the 2019 fiscal year. Participants were recruited via systematic random sampling. We collected data using a questionnaire that was composed of 3 parts including:  1) participant characteristics, 2) health perception, and 3) quality of life. In addition to checking the questionnaire’s standardization, 3 experts checked the questionnaire’s validity and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = about 0.81). We analyzed data using statistics such as the Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient. The results showed that for elderly dependents the mean score for health perception was at a moderate level (=2.37, S.D.=0.48) and mean score for quality of life was at a moderate level (=1.95, S.D.=0.63). We found statistically significant associations between various health perception factors with quality of life among elderly dependents including: perceived risk of illness (r=0.19, p-value=0.001) perceived severity of illness (r=0.16, p-value=0.04) perceived benefit of health care behavior (r=0.11, p-value=0.05) and perceived barriers of health care behavior (r=-0.14, p-value=0.01).