Brief reportHealth-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults at Risk for Disability
Introduction
Impaired mobility, with mobility defined as the ability to walk safely and independently,1 has been shown to predict subsequent broader disability involving independent daily living activities.2, 3 Using these findings, researchers identified a subgroup of older adults that are at risk for developing disability.4, 5, 6, 7 These older adults are characterized by a sedentary lifestyle and impaired mobility. They walk more slowly and have reduced strength and balance. They are considered “at risk for disability” because they have reduced mobility, but can still perform daily living activities.
Mobility and daily living are important elements of the broader concept of health-related quality of life (HRQOL)8, 9 and most measures of generic HRQOL include questions about mobility.10, 11, 12, 13 The HRQOL of older adults is usually described in association with specific diseases, demographic characteristics, and/or healthy epidemiologic samples,14, 15, 16 but few, if any, studies describe the HRQOL of older adults who share functional limitations. The objective of this study is to describe and examine correlates of HRQOL in older adults considered at risk for disability.
Section snippets
Methods
This article describes baseline questionnaire data (collected April–December 2004, analyzed in 2006) from all Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders-Pilot (LIFE-P) study participants. The study has been described in detail elsewhere.17, 18
Results
Mean baseline scores are presented in Table 1. There were no missing data for the QWB-SA and other health variables. Table 2 presents QWB-SA scores for a variety of samples from published studies. However, the samples differ on factors often related to HRQOL (age, gender).
Regression analyses examining correlates of HRQOL are presented in Table 3. Ethnicity was the only demographic variable retained. The comorbidity index and ethnicity variable tested in the second block were both retained. Of
Discussion
The mean QWB-SA score for a sample of older adults considered at risk for disability was lower than a mean score found for healthy older adults37 Although these samples differ slightly, this difference (0.704 – 0.634=0.07) is substantial, and well beyond the minimally clinically important difference (MCID) of 0.03 estimated for the QWB-SA.41, 42
The decrement of 0.07 is more than the amount attributed to a variety of diseases including colitis, migraine, arthritis, stroke, ulcer, asthma, and
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