Quality of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia

Abstract

Background/Aim. The number of elderly people in the world is growing, in Serbia as well. Serbia is already among the top ten countries with the oldest population, it is the fact. Aging influences the quality of life in different ways. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia. Methods. The study included 100 elderly people aged 65 years and above in urban and rural areas in Serbia. The next questionnaires were used: a sociodemographic questionnaire and a Serbian version of standardized European Euro-QoL questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L), as a basic index for the assessment and description of the quality of life. Results. In the structure of the respondents, according to the achieved social contacts (p = 0.012), the life of those with family members (p = 0.009), and health status (p = 0.000), in relation to the place of residence there was a statistically significant difference. There was a significant difference (p = 0.040), predominantly poor score for anxiety/depression within the rural population. The average value of quality of life in urban and rural areas was not statistically significant (p = 0.720). For those living in rural areas there was a statistically significant positive correlation between anxiety/depression and age, wealth status, marital status, living with family members and achieving social contacts, while a negative correlation was observed between anxiety/depression and education. Conclusion. On the basis of the data of our study, we can say that the presence of anxiety/depression among older people is greater in rural than in urban areas. The results of this study show that the perception of anxiety/depression among older in rural areas is bigger with the age and poverty increasing, the loss of a spouse, life without family members, lack of achievement of social contacts and lower education.

Uvod/Cilj. Broj starih osoba u svetu i Srbiji raste, a činjenica je i da se Srbija već nalazi među deset zemalja sveta sa najstarijim stanovništvom. Proces starenja na različite načine utiče na kvalitet života. Cilj rada bio je da se proceni kvalitet života u vezi sa zdravljem starih u urbanoj i ruralnoj sredini u Srbiji. Metode. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 100 starih osoba od 65 godina i više, u urbanoj i ruralnoj sredini. Korišćeni upitnici bili su sociodemografski upitnik i srpska verzija standardizovanog evropskog upitnika Euro- QoL (EQ-5D-3L), kao bazični indeks za procenu i opis kvaliteta života. Rezultati. U strukturi ispitanika prema ostvarivanju socijalnih kontakata (p = 0,012), životu ispitanika sa članovima porodice (p = 0,009) i zdravstvenom stanju (p = 0,000), u odnosu na mesto stanovanja, utvrđena je statistički značajna razlika. Nađena je značajna razlika (p = 0,040), sa dominacijom loših ocena, za usamljenost unutar ruralne populacije. Kod ispitanika koji žive u ruralnoj sredini utvrđena je statistički značajna pozitivna povezanost između usamljenosti i godina života, materijalnog stanja, bračnog statusa, života sa članovima domaćinstva i ostvarivanja socijalnih kontakata, dok je negativna povezanost uočena između usamljenosti i obrazovanja. Zaključak. Na osnovu podataka ove studije možemo reći da su usamljenije stare osobe u ruralnoj sredini. Rezultati ovog istraživanja pokazuju da se percepcija anksioznosti/ depresije kod starih u ruralnoj sredini povećava porastom godina starosti i siromaštva, gubitkom bračnog druga, životom bez članova porodice, neostvarivanjem socijalnih kontakata i nižim stepenom obrazovanja.