Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia.
Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge.
J Public Health (Oxf). 2021 Jun 7;43(2):e180-e187. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdaa002.
Inequalities in life events can lead to inequalities in older age. This research aimed to explore associations between life events reported by older people and quality of life (QoL) and functional ability.
Participants were grouped according to eight life events: parental closeness, educational opportunities in childhood, financial hardship, loss of an unborn child, bereavement due to war, involvement in conflict, violence and experiencing a natural disaster. Linear and logistic regressions were used to explore associations between these groups and the main outcomes of functional ability and QoL.
7555 participants were allocated to four LCA groups: 'few life events' (n = 6,250), 'emotionally cold mother' (n = 724), 'violence in combat' (n = 274) and 'many life events' (n = 307). Reduced QoL was reported in the 'many life events' (coefficient - 5.33, 95%CI -6.61 to -4.05), 'emotionally cold mother' (-1.89, -2.62 to 1.15) and 'violence in combat' (-1.95, -3.08 to -0.82) groups, compared to the 'few life events' group. The 'many life events' group also reported more difficulty with activities of daily living.
Policies aimed at reducing inequalities in older age should consider events across the life course.
生活事件的不平等可能导致老年人的不平等。本研究旨在探讨老年人报告的生活事件与生活质量（QoL）和功能能力之间的关系。
参与者根据以下八项生活事件分组：父母亲近、童年受教育机会、经济困难、未出生孩子的丧失、战争丧亲、卷入冲突、暴力和自然灾害经历。线性和逻辑回归用于探索这些群体与功能能力和 QoL 的主要结果之间的关系。
7555 名参与者被分配到四个 LCA 组：“生活事件较少”（n=6250）、“情绪冷漠的母亲”（n=724）、“战斗中的暴力”（n=274）和“生活事件较多”（n=307）。与“生活事件较少”组相比，“生活事件较多”（系数-5.33，95%CI-6.61 至-4.05）、“情绪冷漠的母亲”（-1.89，-2.62 至 1.15）和“战斗中的暴力”（-1.95，-3.08 至-0.82）组报告的 QoL 降低。与“生活事件较少”组相比，“生活事件较多”组报告日常生活活动的困难更多。
旨在减少老年人不平等的政策应考虑整个生命周期的事件。
