PREDICTING FACTORS FOR QUALITY OF LIFE OF ELDERLY IN THE RURAL AREAS.

The objective of this research was to investigate the predicting factors for the quality of life of the elderly in the rural areas of Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, including gender, age, educational level, occupation, income, ability to perform daily routine activities, caretaker, and congenital disease. The samples were 400 elderly people in the study areas, selected by using the multi-stage cluster sampling method. The data collection tool was the Thai abbreviated version of the World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF-THAI). The data were analyzed for frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The stepwise multiple regression analysis was also used. The study results indicated that the quality of life of most elderly was at the 'good' level (60.2 percent). Among the study factors, the environmental and the psychological factors were at the 'good' levels (67.5 and 61.2 percent, respectively), while the social relationship and the physical health factors were at the 'moderate' level (70.5 and 54.8 percent, respectively). The factors which could significantly predict the quality of life of the elderly included the ability to perform daily routine activities, the income, the congenital disease, the educational level, and the gender, which jointly contributed 20.6 percent of variance in quality of life of the elderly (p < .05). Of these predictors, the ability to perform daily routine activities was the strongest predictor. The study results suggested that related organizations should have a long-term plan for the elderly's healthcare. The most urgent issues were on promoting the elderly's health, providing job opportunities for the elderly to earn some income based on their capability, as well as allowing the elderly to contribute to the production workforce for the community and the society, as to promote the elderly for their better quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]