Evaluation of quality of life in individuals aged 65 and over applying to the physical therapy unit of a hospital

Old age is a period in which an individual's abilities increase, her physical losses increase, her spiritual life increases, and her life increases. Increasing quality of life in old age will prevent physical and psychological diseases. This study aims to evaluate the quality of life of individuals aged 65 and over who applied to the Physical Therapy Unit of Fethi Sekin City Hospital in Elazığ. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 250 patients aged 65 and over who applied to Elazığ Fethi Sekin City Hospital Physical Therapy Unit. In the study, a 48-question survey form prepared by the researchers, in which the demographic, social and health information of the participants were questioned, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Module for the Elderly (WHOQOL-OLD) were applied by face-to-face interview method. The data were analyzed in the SPSS 22 package program and number, percentage, mean and standard deviation, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, student t test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation test were used. In the analyses, the statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05. According to the findings; The average age of the patients is 70.4±5.5 years and 53.2% are women. 95.2% of them have a chronic disease, and hypertension comes first as a chronic disease. 20.4% of the patients are dependent on activities of daily living and 33.6% are physically active. The total mean score of the WHOQOL-OLD Quality of Life Scale is 81.4±13.1, and the subgroup mean scores are that the closeness sub-dimension has the highest score with 14.5±2.5 points, while the social participation sub-dimension has the highest mean score of 12.5±2.5 points. It was found to have the lowest average score of 3.0 points. As age increases, quality of life decreases (p<0.05). It has been found that the quality of life of men is higher than that of women, and the quality of life of married people is higher than that of single people. As the level of education increases, the quality of life increases. Quality of life was found to be high for those who engaged in physical activity, were hopeful for the future, were not dependent on daily life activities, and perceived their health as good (p<0.05). In addition, the quality of life was found to be high in those who had children, those who worked in any job, those who lived with their spouses or children, those whose body mass index (BMI) was normal, those who did not have physical disabilities, those who did not have chronic pain, those who did not have a history of falling in the last year, but the result was not found to be significant. A significant negative correlation was found between WHOQOL-OLD total score, Body Mass Index and perceived age. As a result, in order to improve the quality of life of the elderly, awareness on these issues should be increased by providing appropriate training on physical activity, healthy and balanced nutrition and preventing fall problems. Factors that cause falls should be determined and necessary precautions should be taken in this regard. Social activities should be organized to increase the morale and motivation of the elderly. Larger studies should be conducted to evaluate the quality of life of the elderly.