Department of Medical Rehabilitation, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi Campus, Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria.
Department of Physiotherapy, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
BMC Geriatr. 2021 Jan 6;21(1):12. doi: 10.1186/s12877-020-01982-1.
Physical activity (PA), fear of falling (FOF) and quality of life (QOL) are very important constructs in geriatrics. The interplay among these constructs may vary between community-dwelling and assisted-living older adults. However, studies comparing the wellbeing of community-dwelling older adults with those residing in the assisted-living facilities (ALFs) are rather rare especially from developing countries. This study was aimed at comparing PA, FOF and QOL between assisted-living and community-dwelling older adults and also determining the correlations amongst the constructs for each group.
This cross-sectional survey involved consecutively sampled 114 older adults (≥65 years, ambulant and well-oriented in time, place and person) residing in conveniently selected ALFs (11.3% males) and adjoining communities (54.1% males). PA, FOF and QOL were evaluated using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly, the Modified Fall Efficacy Scale and the Short-form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire respectively. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, analysis of covariance and Spearman rank-order correlation test at 0.05 level of significance.
Participants from the ALFs had significantly lower domain and overall PA (F=5.6-103.34; p< 0.05) and QOL (F=11.12-118.05; p< 0,05) scores than community-dwelling groups. FOF was significantly more prevalent in assisted-living group (p< 0.05). There were significant positive correlations (p< 0.05) between each pair of PA, FOF and QOL for both assisted-living and community-dwelling groups.
Older adults in the ALFs had lower PA and QOL scores with higher prevalence of FOF than their community-dwelling counterparts. Significant relationships existed between PA, FOF and QOL for participants in either group. Present results may be suggesting that ageing in place ensures better health outcomes than institutionalised ageing. Whenever possible, older adults should therefore be encouraged to age in place rather than moving into ALFs.
体力活动（PA）、跌倒恐惧（FOF）和生活质量（QOL）是老年医学中的重要概念。这些概念之间的相互作用可能因社区居住和辅助生活的老年人而有所不同。然而，比较社区居住的老年人和居住在辅助生活设施（ALF）中的老年人的幸福感的研究相对较少，尤其是来自发展中国家的研究。本研究旨在比较辅助生活和社区居住的老年人之间的 PA、FOF 和 QOL，并确定每个群体中这些概念之间的相关性。
这项横断面调查涉及连续抽样的 114 名老年人（≥65 岁，在时间、地点和人员方面行动自如且定向良好），他们居住在方便选择的 ALF（男性占 11.3%）和邻近社区（男性占 54.1%）。使用老年人体力活动量表、改良跌倒效能量表和简短健康调查（SF-36）问卷分别评估 PA、FOF 和 QOL。数据使用描述性统计、协方差分析和 Spearman 秩相关检验进行分析，置信水平为 0.05。
来自 ALF 的参与者的 PA、QOL 得分显著低于社区居住组（F=5.6-103.34；p<0.05）。辅助生活组的 FOF 更为普遍（p<0.05）。辅助生活和社区居住组中，PA、FOF 和 QOL 之间存在显著的正相关（p<0.05）。
辅助生活设施中的老年人的 PA 和 QOL 得分较低，FOF 的患病率较高，与社区居住的同龄人相比。对于两个组的参与者，PA、FOF 和 QOL 之间存在显著的关系。目前的结果可能表明，就地老龄化比机构化老龄化能确保更好的健康结果。只要有可能，就应该鼓励老年人就地老龄化，而不是搬到辅助生活设施中。
