Kim Jiyun, Lee Jong-Eun
PhD, RN, Associate Professor, College of Nursing, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea.
J Nurs Res. 2018 Oct;26(5):316-323. doi: 10.1097/jnr.0000000000000241.
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important component of healthy aging. Elderly individuals living alone with health risks have rapidly increased in South Korea. Inadequate social support has been associated with poor HRQoL in elderly individuals who are currently living alone. Although studies of HRQoL in elderly subjects who live alone have been conducted, studies of the relationships between social support and HRQoL have rarely targeted the elderly individuals living alone.
The aim of this study was to identify the factors that are related to HRQoL among the elderly individuals living alone in South Korea.
A cross-sectional study design was used. Five hundred seventeen elderly individuals who were living alone in community dwellings and aged 65 years or older were included. The structured questionnaires included the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, demographic characteristics, health status, and behavior factors. A descriptive analysis and hierarchical multivariate logistic regression were conducted to examine significant correlations between the variables.
The mean score of the Physical Component Summary was 43.00 (± 4.82), and the mean score of the Mental Component Summary (MCS) was 45.94 (± 7.21). After controlling for demographic characteristics, health status, and behavior factors, support from significant others was negatively associated with the Physical Component Summary scores, whereas support from significant others, family, and friends was positively associated with the MCS scores.
Social support emerged as an important factor in the HRQoL domains of the MCS of the participants. Future interventions should focus more on implementing effective social support strategies to improve HRQoL in elderly individuals who live alone.
健康相关生活质量（HRQoL）是健康老龄化的重要组成部分。在韩国，独自生活且存在健康风险的老年人数量迅速增加。社会支持不足与当前独自生活的老年人的低HRQoL相关。尽管已经对独自生活的老年受试者的HRQoL进行了研究，但社会支持与HRQoL之间关系的研究很少针对独自生活的老年人。
本研究的目的是确定韩国独自生活的老年人中与HRQoL相关的因素。
采用横断面研究设计。纳入了517名居住在社区住宅中、年龄在65岁及以上的独自生活的老年人。结构化问卷包括12项简短健康调查、多维感知社会支持量表、人口统计学特征、健康状况和行为因素。进行描述性分析和分层多元逻辑回归以检验变量之间的显著相关性。
身体成分总结的平均得分是43.00（±4.82），心理成分总结（MCS）的平均得分是45.94（±7.21）。在控制了人口统计学特征、健康状况和行为因素后，重要他人的支持与身体成分总结得分呈负相关，而重要他人、家人和朋友的支持与MCS得分呈正相关。
社会支持是参与者MCS的HRQoL领域中的一个重要因素。未来的干预措施应更多地侧重于实施有效的社会支持策略，以改善独自生活的老年人的HRQoL。
