OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE IN ELDERLY

Resumo

Introduction: The term quality of life (QoL) has assumed a popular connotation for its use, becoming a colloquial expression and often not translating its real meaning or, even, not expressing the real situation of the people for whom it is utilized. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the concept of overall QoL is the subjective perception of the individual's position in life in the context of the culture and. Material and Methods: This is an epidemiological, descriptive and cross-sectional study, approved by the Ethics Committee on Research with Human Beings of the Catholic University Don Bosco. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the overall QoL questionnaire of the WHO World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Bref) and a Free and Clarified Consent Form were applied to 130 elderly people (aged 60 and above, regardless of race, color and socioeconomic status). Results: The average age was 71.6 years, with a minimum age of 60 years and a maximum of 88 years, most of them women (n = 106 participants or 81% of the sample). As for WHOQOL-Bref, the closer to 100 the average was, the better overall QoL would be in that domain. In the physical domain, the average was 64.7 and standard deviation of 19.5; Regarding the psychological side, the average was 65.2 with standard deviation of 20.3; In the social relationship, the mean was 58.8 and a standard deviation of 18.6, and concerning to the environment, it presented 66.4 as mean and 16.6 of standard deviation. Discussion and Conclusion: It was concluded that the population evaluated presented very good QoL in relation to the WHOQOL-Bref score. It can also be concluded that the time of exposure to both physical and therapeutic activities also influences the results, both to the physical and emotional aspects of the QoL assessment. It was also observed that aging alone is not a disease and that most older people are not in poor health. Aging is accompanied by physical and emotional changes, which increases the possibility of developing chronic diseases and consequent loss of QoL.