Search

Purpose: To investigate associations between baseline frailty status and subsequent changes in QOL over time among community-dwelling older people. Methods: Among 363 community-dwelling older people ≥65 years, frailty was measured using Frailty Index (FI) constructed from 40 deficits at baseline. QOL was measured using Older People's Quality of Life Questionnaire (OPQOL) six times over 2.5 years. Two-level hierarchical linear models were employed to predict QOL changes over time according to baseline frailty. Results: At baseline, mean age was 73.1 (range 65-90) and 62.0 % were women. Mean FI was 0.17 (range 0.00-0.66), and mean OPQOL was 130.80 (range 93-163). The hierarchical linear model adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, education, and enrollment site predicted that those with higher FI at baseline have lower QOL than those with lower FI (regression coefficient = -47.64, p < 0.0001) and that QOL changes linearly over time with slopes ranging from 0.80 (FI = 0.00) to -1.15 (FI = 0.66) as the FI increases. A FI of 0.27 is the cutoff point at which improvements in QOL over time change to declines in QOL. Conclusions: Frailty was associated with lower QOL among British community-dwelling older people. While less frail participants had higher QOL at baseline and QOL improved over time, QOL of frailer participants was lower at baseline and declined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the results of a national survey of the quality of life of 999 randomly sampled people aged 65 and over, living at home in Britain. The survey was semi-structured, and a sample of survey respondents was followed up and interviewed in-depth in order to explore their perceptions of quality of life in full. Comparisons are made here between the results of (i) a hierarchical multiple regression model based on theoretically derived indicators of survey respondents' ratings of their overall quality of life, with (ii) the same respondents' own definitions of quality of life, categorized from their responses to open ended survey questions, and (iii) the views of a sub-sample of these survey respondents who were subsequently interviewed in greater depth. Respondents were asked the open ended questions on quality of life at the outset of the survey interview in order to prevent any respondent bias from the structured measures used. The core components, and the central planks, of quality of life, which were consistently emphasized by the three approaches, were psychological characteristics and outlook, health and functional status, personal and neighborhood social capital. The lay models also emphasized the importance of financial circumstances and independence, which need to be incorporated into a definition of broader quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]