Influence of the health status and other contributing factors on quality of life of the older people

Introduction/Aim: Aim of the study was to investigate influence of the health status as well as other contributing factors on perceived quality of life of the older people in Belgrade. Methods: The survey was conducted in October 2019 on a representative sample of 764 people aged between 65 and 79 years (X = 72.68 ± 7.11), (39.9% male and 60.1% female) living in Belgrade. The research used a questionnaire developed on the basis of the World Health Organization methodology for age friendly cities, aimed to explore 11 areas important for the elderly. Results: Factor of physical accessibility of community is highly significant [χ2 (df = 3, n = 764) = 238.905; p < 0.001] and explained 39.4% of variance of perceived quality of life, while socio-economic factors show the same amount of variance, 35.0% [χ2 (df = 3, n = 764) = 207.571; p < 0.001]. Social environment explains 24.6% of variance of perceived quality of life [χ2 (df = 4, n = 764) = 140.242; p < 0.001]. Health status has greatest explanatory power regarding perceived quality of life and explain as much as 46.7% of variance [χ2 (df = 8, n = 764) = 292.083; p < 0.001]. When unique impact of health status on quality of life is analyzed, when other variables are controlled, health status explains 21.6% of variance in addition to variance explained by physical accessibility, socio-economic status and social environment. Conclusion: Although health status has the greatest impact on perceived quality of life of older people, interventions on other life important domains such as physical accessibility, socio-economic status and social environment could have positive impact on perceived quality of life where health status alone could not be improved.