Relationships among activities of daily living capabilities, family support, quality of life and mental health in the elderly in Laplae District, Uttaradit province
Abstract:
A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to identify the association between the ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL), family support, quality of life and mental health in the elderly living in Laplae district, Uttaradit Province. A total of 381 elderly persons aged 60 years and above were selected using multi-stage sampling. Data were collected by questionnaires during August - October 2019. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics including percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The relationships were then analyzed by using Chi-square, t-test, One-way ANOVA and Pearson's correlation coefficient The results show that most of the subjects were women (65.9%), mean aged 70 years, the highest level of education in elementary school (85.3%), were agriculturist (42.5%), regular monthly income less than 3,000 baht (78.2%), married (59.6%), currently lived with child (64.0%) and were not members of a club or society (69.6%). Most of them had medical problems (68.5%) such as hypertension (58.8%), diabetes (31.8%), and dyslipidemia (23.6%). Most of the participants were in the social-bound group (mean = 19.12), were supported by the family in the moderate level (mean = 2.14), and their overall quality of life were in the moderate level (mean = 92.63). Approximately half of the participants had average mental health. Age, occupation, regular income, abilities to perform ADL, and family support were associations with the level of mental health in the elderly with statistical significance. There were associations between related factors such as occupation, regular income, marital status, medical problems, disease status, abilities to perform ADL, family support and quality of life in the elderly with statistical significance. Moreover, the results also show the moderately positive correlation between quality of life and mental health in the elderly (r = 0.669, p < 0.001). The results of this study would be beneficial for understanding quality of life and mental health in Thai elderly. In addition, this study can be the model of a care plan for the elderly by supporting them to be taken care appropriately of their physical, mental, and social health in order to develop and promote the elderly care system.