Health conditions and sociodemographic variables associated with quality of life in elderly women from a physical activity program in Curitiba, Paraná State, Southern Brazil

The current study aimed to explore the association between sociodemographic variables and health conditions and quality of life domains among female participants in the "Elders in Movement" program. The sample consisted of 1,806 elderly women that were evaluated through interviews for potential correlates and quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF and WHOQOL-OLD). Body mass index was calculated after measuring height and weight. Quality of life domains were categorized into tertiles. Data analysis used ordinal logistic regression. After adjusting for confounders, the variables age, economic class, education, occupation, and marital status were associated with some domains of quality of life (p < 0.05). Moreover, obese elderly women and/or those with health problems had decreased odds of higher quality of life scores, while those that used one or two medicines had increased odds of higher scores in the physical domain. The study concludes that sociodemographic factors and health conditions were associated with quality of life in this sample of elderly women.

Quality of Life; Health Status; Aged