Quality of life among frail older persons (65+ years) in nursing homes: A cross-sectional study.
Anna Sandgren, Lisa Arnoldsson, Annika Lagerholm and 1 others
PMID 34482652WHAT IT FOUND
No clear differences in quality of life were found between men and women or between younger and older residents.
Residents rated autonomy and physical health lowest, social relationships and death/dying highest.
Key findings
01Residents rated social relationships highest among WHOQOL-BREF domains (mean 4.0) and physical health lowest (mean 3.1).
02Residents rated death and dying highest among WHOQOL-OLD domains (mean 4.2) and autonomy lowest (mean 2.9).
03No significant differences were found in quality of life domains between men and women or between age groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 78 residents were analysed, and they had to be able to respond in Swedish and manage a structured interview for up to two hours, so the sample excluded many of the frailest residents. The authors state that the results may overrate quality of life in nursing homes because residents with cognitive impairment were less likely to be included. Interviewers were registered nurses who assisted with and filled in the questionnaire, and the authors say this may have affected residents' answers and lowered reliability. One WHOQOL-BREF item was removed for ethical reasons, which biased domain scores and made comparison of the social relationships domain with other studies difficult. The study was cross-sectional and did not test an intervention, so it cannot show what causes higher or lower quality of life.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests. Funding came from the Swedish Research Council, the Vårdal Foundation, Lund University, the city of Lund, Linnaeus University, Region Skåne, the Greta and Johan Kock Foundation, and the Ribbingska Memorial Foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these scores as showing that nursing homes provide high quality of life for all frail older people. The sample included only residents who could take part in a structured interview for up to two hours, and the authors state the results may overrate quality of life in the frailest group.