Quality of life among malnourished elderly population in rural Puducherry, South India

Context: Health of the elderly will be an important issue in defining the health status of a population in coming years. There is a paucity of information with regard to quality of life (QOL) among malnourished elderly. Aims: To assess the QOL among malnourished elderly in a rural field practice areas of tertiary care hospital, Puducherry, and to find the sociodemographic factors associated with QOL among malnourished elderly population. Settings and Design: A community?based cross?sectional study in the rural field areas of Government Medical College of Puducherry. Subjects and Methods: After obtaining ethical approval, the study was conducted among 225 malnourished elderly (>60 years) from April to June 2019 using multistage random sampling technique. Sociodemographic data were obtained using a semistructured questionnaire. Malnutrition was screened using Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form and QOL was assessed using World Health Organization QOL?BREF questionnaire. Results: The mean and standard deviation of the study participants’ age was 69.89 + 6.3 years. 57.8% of them were female, 81.3% were unemployed, and 73.3% were dependent on their old age pension for their livelihood. QOL of malnourished elderly was poor in all the domains when compared to those without malnourished and this is found to be statistically significant. In binomial logistic regression analysis, the presence of comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.4 and 95% confidence interval: 1.3–4.4), unemployed (AOR: 4.8; 1.4–15.9), and living without family (AOR: 0.2; 0.06–0.7) revealed the statistically significant association with low QOL score among malnourished elderly. Conclusions: The mean score of QOL among malnourished elderly was below average in all four domains in which psychosocial domain was badly affected.

Quality of life and sociodemographic factors associated with poor quality of life in elderly women in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Background: India is going through a phase of demographic transition leading to population aging and feminization of aging resulting in increased proportion of elderly women than men. Problems faced by the elderly women are more critical than men due to family and social conditions prevailing in India. Objective: The study made an attempt to assess the quality of life (QOL) using the World Health Organization QOL (WHOQOL-BREF) scale and sociodemographic factors affecting QOL of elderly women residing in a community setting in South Kerala. Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional study to assess the QOL of elderly women using WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Data were collected from 160 elderly women. Results: 2.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.07-4.84) of the study participants were having "very good" QOL. 38.8% (95% CI: 31.2-46.4) had "good," 43.1% (95% CI: 35.4-50.8) had "poor," and 15.6% (95% CI: 9.98-21.22) had "very poor" QOL, respectively. QOL was least in the psychological domain followed by physical and health-related, social, and environmental domains. Logistic regression revealed age above 70 years (adjusted odds ratio [OR] - 11.3), nonpossession of property (adjusted OR - 8.99), neglecting attitude by family (adjusted OR - 6.9), and absence of visit by friends and relatives (adjusted OR - 9.9) as risk factors, whereas residing in the urban area as a protective factor (adjusted OR - 0.1) for poor QOL. Conclusion: It is possible to improve the QOL of elderly women by providing financial security, ensuring care, and by enhancing social relationships of elderly women.

Effect of Spinal Cord Injury on Quality of Life of Affected Soldiers in India: A Cross-Sectional Study

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective cross-sectional study with convenience sampling approach was done to assess quality of life (QoL) in 100 soldiers and veterans affected by spinal cord injury (SCI). PURPOSE: SCI affects almost every aspect of the life of an affected individual. This study was done to measure the impact of SCI on QoL of affected soldiers and veterans using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: The devastating effect of SCI on QoL is well known. However, this study is unique in that it includes soldiers and veterans, who constitute a large, but excluded, cohort in most demographic studies. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done at two SCI rehabilitation centres of the Indian armed forces. Data was collected by face-to-face interviews from 100 patients, which included both sociodemographic data as well as all the questions included in WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. RESULTS: Age and marital status did not have any influence on QoL. Level of injury (paraplegic or quadriplegic), level of education and presence of other medical co-morbidities had the most significant influence on QoL. Presence of other medical co-morbidities had a negative influence on QoL. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of factors having a positive and negative influence on QoL help in formulating measures and policies that positively influence the QoL following SCI in soldiers. Future longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes and assessment of additional variables in addition to WHOQOL-BREF, like presence/absence of secondary complications, are required to bring about policy changes to provide SCI patients with additional support and increased access to equipment or lifestyle interventions.

Assessment of Quality of Life during Treatment of Pediatric Oncology Patients.

Background: The objective of this study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of pediatric cancer patients and their parents in North India. Materials and Methods: Seventy-fi ve cancer children were assessed for HRQOL, using Lansky play performance scale and health utility index-2 (HUI-2). Fifty-seven patients were followedup after 4 months after therapy and reassessed. Their parents were also assessed using World Health Organisation (WHO) QOL BREF. Seventy fi ve controls were also assessed and compared. Results: Lansky and HUI-2 scores of patients, as well as WHO QOL BREF of parents were signifi cantly poor in cancer patients when compared to controls. There was signifi cant improvement after therapy in patients with lymphomas and miscellaneous tumors. Pain and self-care were found to be maximally affected domains on HUI-2. Conclusions: Large prospective multicenter studies may be undertaken and hence that need based interventions can be planned.