Perceived Quality of Life and Social Factors in Elderly Hypertensive Patients

Abstract

We conducted a cross-sectional study of elderly outpatients with hypertension to examine the relationship between quality of life (QOL) scores and social background factors. The subjects consisted of 516 outpatients (267 females), age of 60 or over, at nine clinics of major hospitals which participated in the National Cardiovascular Center Research Project. The perceived QOL was evaluated by the QOL scale originally based on Japanese patients with cardiovascular diseases. The scale consisted of the following 5 subscales; difficulty due to disease, psychological stability, independence, satisfaction in daily living and vitality. The background factors included family structure, socioeconomic factors and work status, and physical activity of daily living (ADL). After adjusting for age, sex, administered drugs and complicating conditions such as ischemic heart disease and/or apoplexy, a significant odds ratio of a low score of difficulty due to disease, psychological stability, satisfaction in daily living and vitality was found in the impaired physical ADL group with low socioeconomic class, and a significant odds ratio of low score of independence were found in the impaired physical ADL group who had lost jobs due to illness and had no children.