• Aymen Mohammed Elsous, Mahmoud Mohammed Radwan, Ezat Ahmed Askari, and Ayman Mustafa Abu.
• Dr. Aymen Elsous, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Professions,, Israa University, Yafa Street,, Gaza Strip 00970, State of Palestine, T: +970598926886/+970568926886 aymenelsous65@gmail.com, ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002.5454-6012.
• Ann Saudi Med. 2019 Jan 1; 39 (1): 171-7.

BackgroundIn Palestine, persons older than 60 years of age comprise 4.6% of the population in this decade and will remain relatively stable until the year 2020, when it is expected to begin to rise. The quality of life (QoL), which reflects well-being and health status, is under-reported in this vulnerable group in the Gaza Strip.ObjectiveDetermine QoL and associated factors in persons aged older than 60 years.DesignA community-based cross-sectional study.SettingFive Gaza Strip governorates.Subjects And MethodsSubjects were selected by convenience sampling. We used the validated Arabic WHOQOL-BREF to assess QoL and used descriptive, univariate and multivariate methods to analyze the data.Main Outcome MeasuresQoL, overall satisfaction with health and factors associated with good QoL.Sample Size235 community-dwelling elderly.ResultsThe response rate was 85.5% (201/235). Mean age (SD) was 69 (7.95) years old and females accounted for 57.7% (116/201) of the sample. Almost half (44.2%, 90/201) of the elderly scored in the category of good QoL. The mean (SD) for overall QoL and perceived satisfaction with health was 3.3 (1.1) and 3.4 (1.0), respectively, on a 5-point Likert scale. The social relationship domain had the highest QoL score (65.4 [15.3]), whereas physical and environmental domains received equally lower scores (60.5 [15.2] and 60.5 [12.5] respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that factors associated with good QoL were higher education (OR: 3.1, CI 95%: 1.03-9.4) and perceived high satisfaction with health (OR: 3.6, CI 95%: 1.8-7.3).ConclusionMore years of education and higher satisfaction with health were associated with a better perception of QoL. Interventions should be focused more on physical and environmental aspects in the life of elderly persons.LimitationsCross-sectional design, use of convenience sample and some possibly important factors not studied.Conflict Of InterestNone.

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