Quality of life of older adults and associated factors in Ghanaian urban slums: a cross-sectional study

P.Y.A. Attafuah; I. Everink; A.A. Abuosi; C. Lohrmann; J.M.G.A. Schols

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057264

Quality of life of older adults and associated factors in Ghanaian urban slums: a cross-sectional study

P.Y.A. Attafuah^*, I. Everink, A.A. Abuosi, C. Lohrmann, J.M.G.A. Schols

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Objective This study provides insight into the quality of life (QoL) of older adults living in urban slums in Ghana. Design The study employed a community-based, cross-sectional design to assess QoL among older adults in two slums between April and May 2020. QoL was assessed using the WHO Quality of Life-Brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Settings Participants were drawn from two slums in Ghana, one in a fishing-dominated community and the other in an industrial community. Participants This study included 400 participants aged 60 and above who had lived in either slum for at least 1 month and were able to communicate verbally. Results Although the means of all participants' transformed scores were poor in the physical and psychological domains, they were moderate in all other domains. When viewed as a whole, the perceived overall QoL is neither poor nor good and participants were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their health. Participants had a moderate level of QoL in the WHOQOL-BREF psychological (mean score 45.7), social (mean score 57.0) and environmental (mean score 51.6) domains. The mean score for physical QoL of older adults was 43.3, which denotes poor QoL. In all domains, male participants have a significantly higher mean QoL than their female counterparts. An analysis of variance comparing the living arrangements of participants showed that those who lived with extended family had high mean scores in environmental QoL, overall QoL and satisfaction with health. Regression analysis revealed that QoL was influenced mostly by the environmental (46.2%), followed by the psychological (43.7%), physical (31%) and social (20.4%) domains. Conclusions The findings from this study show that older adults living in slums had moderate psychological, social and environmental QoL and poor physical QoL. Although the mean scores for QoL are higher than anticipated, health policy development must take into account the specific needs of older adults.

Original language	English
Article number	e057264
Number of pages	8
Journal	BMJ Open
Volume	12
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057264
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2022

Keywords

public health
social medicine
geriatric medicine
WHOQOL-BREF
DEPRESSION
MULTIMORBIDITY
LONELINESS
PEOPLE

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10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057264Licence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

@article{0175492aeafc474a95a5d4ecc892d6b8,

title = "Quality of life of older adults and associated factors in Ghanaian urban slums: a cross-sectional study",

abstract = "Objective This study provides insight into the quality of life (QoL) of older adults living in urban slums in Ghana. Design The study employed a community-based, cross-sectional design to assess QoL among older adults in two slums between April and May 2020. QoL was assessed using the WHO Quality of Life-Brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Settings Participants were drawn from two slums in Ghana, one in a fishing-dominated community and the other in an industrial community. Participants This study included 400 participants aged 60 and above who had lived in either slum for at least 1 month and were able to communicate verbally. Results Although the means of all participants' transformed scores were poor in the physical and psychological domains, they were moderate in all other domains. When viewed as a whole, the perceived overall QoL is neither poor nor good and participants were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their health. Participants had a moderate level of QoL in the WHOQOL-BREF psychological (mean score 45.7), social (mean score 57.0) and environmental (mean score 51.6) domains. The mean score for physical QoL of older adults was 43.3, which denotes poor QoL. In all domains, male participants have a significantly higher mean QoL than their female counterparts. An analysis of variance comparing the living arrangements of participants showed that those who lived with extended family had high mean scores in environmental QoL, overall QoL and satisfaction with health. Regression analysis revealed that QoL was influenced mostly by the environmental (46.2%), followed by the psychological (43.7%), physical (31%) and social (20.4%) domains. Conclusions The findings from this study show that older adults living in slums had moderate psychological, social and environmental QoL and poor physical QoL. Although the mean scores for QoL are higher than anticipated, health policy development must take into account the specific needs of older adults.",

keywords = "public health, social medicine, geriatric medicine, WHOQOL-BREF, DEPRESSION, MULTIMORBIDITY, LONELINESS, PEOPLE",

author = "P.Y.A. Attafuah and I. Everink and A.A. Abuosi and C. Lohrmann and J.M.G.A. Schols",

note = "Funding Information: In a one-way ANOVA of the mean differences in QoL of participants with different sources of income, there was a statistical significance in the satisfaction with health domain only. Participants who received pensions had higher means in most domains (overall QoL, satisfaction with health, physical QoL), followed by participants who had financial support from family/siblings (higher scores on the environmental and psychological domains). Participants who received financial support from friends had the highest QoL score in the social QoL domain. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.",

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doi = "10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057264",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Quality of life of older adults and associated factors in Ghanaian urban slums: a cross-sectional study

AU - Attafuah, P.Y.A.

AU - Everink, I.

AU - Abuosi, A.A.

AU - Lohrmann, C.

AU - Schols, J.M.G.A.

N1 - Funding Information: In a one-way ANOVA of the mean differences in QoL of participants with different sources of income, there was a statistical significance in the satisfaction with health domain only. Participants who received pensions had higher means in most domains (overall QoL, satisfaction with health, physical QoL), followed by participants who had financial support from family/siblings (higher scores on the environmental and psychological domains). Participants who received financial support from friends had the highest QoL score in the social QoL domain. Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

PY - 2022/2/1

Y1 - 2022/2/1

N2 - Objective This study provides insight into the quality of life (QoL) of older adults living in urban slums in Ghana. Design The study employed a community-based, cross-sectional design to assess QoL among older adults in two slums between April and May 2020. QoL was assessed using the WHO Quality of Life-Brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Settings Participants were drawn from two slums in Ghana, one in a fishing-dominated community and the other in an industrial community. Participants This study included 400 participants aged 60 and above who had lived in either slum for at least 1 month and were able to communicate verbally. Results Although the means of all participants' transformed scores were poor in the physical and psychological domains, they were moderate in all other domains. When viewed as a whole, the perceived overall QoL is neither poor nor good and participants were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their health. Participants had a moderate level of QoL in the WHOQOL-BREF psychological (mean score 45.7), social (mean score 57.0) and environmental (mean score 51.6) domains. The mean score for physical QoL of older adults was 43.3, which denotes poor QoL. In all domains, male participants have a significantly higher mean QoL than their female counterparts. An analysis of variance comparing the living arrangements of participants showed that those who lived with extended family had high mean scores in environmental QoL, overall QoL and satisfaction with health. Regression analysis revealed that QoL was influenced mostly by the environmental (46.2%), followed by the psychological (43.7%), physical (31%) and social (20.4%) domains. Conclusions The findings from this study show that older adults living in slums had moderate psychological, social and environmental QoL and poor physical QoL. Although the mean scores for QoL are higher than anticipated, health policy development must take into account the specific needs of older adults.

AB - Objective This study provides insight into the quality of life (QoL) of older adults living in urban slums in Ghana. Design The study employed a community-based, cross-sectional design to assess QoL among older adults in two slums between April and May 2020. QoL was assessed using the WHO Quality of Life-Brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Settings Participants were drawn from two slums in Ghana, one in a fishing-dominated community and the other in an industrial community. Participants This study included 400 participants aged 60 and above who had lived in either slum for at least 1 month and were able to communicate verbally. Results Although the means of all participants' transformed scores were poor in the physical and psychological domains, they were moderate in all other domains. When viewed as a whole, the perceived overall QoL is neither poor nor good and participants were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their health. Participants had a moderate level of QoL in the WHOQOL-BREF psychological (mean score 45.7), social (mean score 57.0) and environmental (mean score 51.6) domains. The mean score for physical QoL of older adults was 43.3, which denotes poor QoL. In all domains, male participants have a significantly higher mean QoL than their female counterparts. An analysis of variance comparing the living arrangements of participants showed that those who lived with extended family had high mean scores in environmental QoL, overall QoL and satisfaction with health. Regression analysis revealed that QoL was influenced mostly by the environmental (46.2%), followed by the psychological (43.7%), physical (31%) and social (20.4%) domains. Conclusions The findings from this study show that older adults living in slums had moderate psychological, social and environmental QoL and poor physical QoL. Although the mean scores for QoL are higher than anticipated, health policy development must take into account the specific needs of older adults.

KW - public health

KW - social medicine

KW - geriatric medicine

KW - WHOQOL-BREF

KW - DEPRESSION

KW - MULTIMORBIDITY

KW - LONELINESS

KW - PEOPLE

U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057264

DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057264

M3 - Article

C2 - 35149573

SN - 2044-6055

VL - 12

JO - BMJ Open

JF - BMJ Open

IS - 2

M1 - e057264

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