Health related quality of life of the elderly population in a rural and urban area of Peru

Abstract

Objectives. To assess the health related quality of life in a sample of elderly population in a rural and urban Peruvian area. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was performed in elderly population from four rural districts and one urban from the period October 2014 to January 2016. The association between the area of residence and five sociodemographic variables was assessed with the chi square test. Using the Wilcoxon rank sum test and assessing size effect, WHOQoL-OLD and WHOQoL-BREF domain scores and global score of the former obtained in the survey were measured and compared. Then, simple and multiple regressions were performed to adjust values to the sociodemographic differences. Results. A total of 447 elderly people were surveyed with a mean age of 69 (DE=6,46), 207 from the rural area, most of whom worked and had less years of education.. The elderly population from the rural area had a higher quality of life in the domains “Physical”, “Psychological” and “Environment” from WHOQoL-BREF and in “Sensory abilities”, “Autonomy”, “Past, Present and Future Activities”, “Social participation” and the total score from WHOQoLOLD, while those from the urban area only had a higher quality of life in “Intimacy”. Conclusions. The area of residency exerts a differential effect on the distinct domains of health related quality of life in the evaluated elderly population