A study on health-related quality of life and comorbidity among elderly population in rural Sabah, Malaysia

Authors

  • Thant Zin Former Senior Lecturer, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
  • Than Myint Head, Rural Medicine Research Unit, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
  • Daw KS Naing Associate Professor, Community and Family Medicine, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
  • Kyaw Htay Former Associate Professor, Surgical Base Department, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
  • Aye Aye Wynn Senior Lecturer, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
  • Tin SabaiAung Associate Professor, Pathobiology and Diagnostic Department, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
  • Awang Setia Bin Musleh Deputy Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
  • Fredie Robinson Director, Community Treatment Centre; University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3329/seajph.v5i2.28311

Keywords:

Elderly, Health-Related Quality of Life, Co-morbidity, Rural Sabah, Malaysia

Abstract

Ageing is a global phenomenon. In Malaysia, a projected model estimated that the number of elderly would be 3.4 million in 2020 which is more than 10% of the population. A cross-sectional study targeted the elderly population of three villages in rural Sabah, Malaysia aimed to investigate the health-related quality of life, comorbidity, and the socio-demographic profile amongst the elderly in the community. Participants (60 years and above) were selected for face-to-face interviews using health-related quality of life questionnaires (SF-36). SPSS 21 was used for statistical analyses. Results showed that mean (sd) of age; 67.71 (6.95) years. Five common co-morbidities were hypertension (67%), bone and joint pain (63%), gastric pain (67%), poor vision (58%), and hearing problems (33%). The highest HRQoL score was social functioning (67.96) whereas the lowest HRQoL score is role limitation due to emotional problems (30.54). There is a significant relationship between HRQoL domains and socio-demographic factors (gender, marital status, membership in association), and health condition (co-morbidities and access to healthcare, bone and joint pain or arthritis and treatment, hearing impairment and treatment) which indicated need for health and social support like participating in association and access to health care for rural elderly in future programme. We recommend a further study to compare elderly HRQoL in rural, urban and institutional settings for future health-care planning.

South East Asia Journal of Public Health Vol.5(2) 2015: 35-42

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Author Biography

Thant Zin, Former Senior Lecturer, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah



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Published

2016-07-25

How to Cite

Zin, T., Myint, T., Naing, D. K., Htay, K., Wynn, A. A., SabaiAung, T., Musleh, A. S. B., & Robinson, F. (2016). A study on health-related quality of life and comorbidity among elderly population in rural Sabah, Malaysia. South East Asia Journal of Public Health, 5(2), 35–42. https://doi.org/10.3329/seajph.v5i2.28311

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2015)

Section

Original Research

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