Investigation of Activity, Participation and Quality of Life in Elderly Living in Ankara and Antalya Provinces

Objective: This aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between activity and participation of geriatrics living at home and quality of life. Methods: This study was applied 120 geriatrics (60 female mean age: 71.4±5.3 years; 60 male mean age: 70.8±4.7 years, ranged from 65-83 years) aged at 65 years and upper and living at their home in Ankara and Antalya. The community participation levels were assessed with World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule, Second Version (WHO-DAS-II). Canadian Occupational Performance Measurement (COPM) was used to evaluate the activity performance of participants. The elderly’s quality of life levels were assessed with Health Survey Questionnaire Short Form-36 (SF-36). Results: The important daily living activities of participants who had problems were: cooking (n=52), shopping (n=48), shower (n=38) and performed salah (n=37). According to the results of WHO-DAS-II, COPM and SF36, there were no statistical differences between gender groups (p>0.05). There was moderate degree of significant negative correlation between the sub scores of COPM and total score of WHO-DAS-II (p<0.05). Also, There was weak-strong degree of significant negative correlation between all sub parameters of SF-36 and WHO-DAS-II total score and community participation sub parameter (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study were showed that activity performance of geriatrics who lived at home was increased with raising rate of community participation, and also raising the community participation increase the quality of life. Future studies should be designed to investigate the effects of environmental factors and different living conditions on activity, participation and quality of life of geriatric individuals.