Community Health Nursing Department, School of Nursing and Midwivery, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, Department of Health Services Research, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
BMJ Open. 2022 Feb 11;12(2):e057264. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057264.
This study provides insight into the quality of life (QoL) of older adults living in urban slums in Ghana.
The study employed a community-based, cross-sectional design to assess QoL among older adults in two slums between April and May 2020. QoL was assessed using the WHO Quality of Life-Brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire.
Participants were drawn from two slums in Ghana, one in a fishing-dominated community and the other in an industrial community.
This study included 400 participants aged 60 and above who had lived in either slum for at least 1 month and were able to communicate verbally.
Although the means of all participants' transformed scores were poor in the physical and psychological domains, they were moderate in all other domains. When viewed as a whole, the perceived overall QoL is neither poor nor good and participants were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their health. Participants had a moderate level of QoL in the WHOQOL-BREF psychological (mean score 45.7), social (mean score 57.0) and environmental (mean score 51.6) domains. The mean score for physical QoL of older adults was 43.3, which denotes poor QoL. In all domains, male participants have a significantly higher mean QoL than their female counterparts. An analysis of variance comparing the living arrangements of participants showed that those who lived with extended family had high mean scores in environmental QoL, overall QoL and satisfaction with health. Regression analysis revealed that QoL was influenced mostly by the environmental (46.2%), followed by the psychological (43.7%), physical (31%) and social (20.4%) domains.
The findings from this study show that older adults living in slums had moderate psychological, social and environmental QoL and poor physical QoL. Although the mean scores for QoL are higher than anticipated, health policy development must take into account the specific needs of older adults.
本研究旨在深入了解加纳城市贫民窟中老年人的生活质量（QoL）。
本研究采用基于社区的横断面设计，于 2020 年 4 月至 5 月评估了两个贫民窟中老年人的 QoL。使用世界卫生组织生活质量简短问卷（WHOQOL-BREF）评估 QoL。
参与者来自加纳的两个贫民窟，一个位于渔业主导社区，另一个位于工业社区。
本研究包括 400 名年龄在 60 岁及以上、在任一贫民窟居住至少 1 个月且能够进行口头交流的参与者。
尽管所有参与者转换后的得分平均值在生理和心理领域较差，但在其他所有领域均为中等。整体来看，感知到的总体 QoL 既不差也不好，参与者对自己的健康既不满意也不满足。参与者在 WHOQOL-BREF 心理（平均得分 45.7）、社会（平均得分 57.0）和环境（平均得分 51.6）领域具有中等水平的 QoL。老年人生理 QoL 的平均得分为 43.3，这表示 QoL 较差。在所有领域，男性参与者的平均 QoL 均显著高于女性。对参与者居住安排的方差分析表明，与大家庭一起生活的人在环境 QoL、总体 QoL 和对健康的满意度方面具有较高的平均得分。回归分析显示，QoL 主要受环境（46.2%）、心理（43.7%）、生理（31%）和社会（20.4%）领域影响。
本研究结果表明，居住在贫民窟的老年人具有中等水平的心理、社会和环境 QoL 以及较差的生理 QoL。尽管 QoL 的平均得分高于预期，但健康政策的制定必须考虑到老年人的特殊需求。
