To Assess the Quality of Life Among Elderly in Rural Area, Sedarapet, Puducherry

Abstract

In humans, ageing represents the accumulation of changes in a human being over time, encompassing physical, psychological and social change. Aging is an inevitable developmental phenomenon bring along a changes in the physical, psychological, hormonal and the social conditions. There are changes in the appearance, slowing down of functioning of body changes, changes in day to day interest, attitude and lifestyle. Due to diminished physical and mental functions, the elderly are more likely to suffer from a variety of health problems. Loneliness, a lack of sexual engagement, and chronic metabolic diseases are just a few of the factors that can lead to mental distress. These issues might have a negative impact on the elderly's quality of life. To assess the quality of life of elderly, 60 elders were selected in rural area Sedurapet, Puducherry using purposive sampling technique. Data collection was done through interview technique. Among 60 samples, nearly 50% of elderly belongs to the age group of 60-69 and 50% belongs to the age above 80 years and 50% in gender wise. Majority 55% of them did not had their formal education and 73% were married and majority of 48.8% were getting pension and majority 45.3 %were been taken care by family members. The study concluded that only 21.7% of elderly had good quality of life and 33% of elderly had average quality of life and majority 45% of elderly had poor quality of life. There was a statistically significant association between the quality of life with educational status and marital status.