| Abstract |
Introduction. The search of quality of life determinants of people with dependancy due to physical or psychological disabilities is of paramount importance to promote healthy ageing.
Objective. To estimate the prevalence of people receiving home care among those in need in European populations/countries, and its association with quality of life, life satisfaction and future expectations.
Methods. A total of 28296 individuals aged 50+ years from 12 European countries comprised the study sample, which was part of the 2nd phase of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe – SHARE study. It consists of representative, stratified, complex samples of adults, selected from each country through weighted sampling. Relative parameters were assessed using weighted questionnaires, whereas multivariate analyses for complex samples were applied.
Results. Professional or paid nursing or personal care was received by 4.5%, professional or paid home care for housework was received by 4.8%, whereas a significantly lower prevalence (p<0.05) of those receiving care in the context of the program “Home Care” was observed (1.2%). In total, the prevalence of people receiving care was estimated at 8.3%, with a significantly higher percentge of women (10.6%), those aged 80+ years (31.4%), those with no education (11.8%) or with 3 or more chronic diseases (16.8%) or with health symptoms (17.5%). The highest percentage of those receiving care was observed in the sample of France (18.1%) and the lowest in the sample of Greece (2.1%). A higher frequency was observed among those with hypertension (39.9%) and with arthritis/osteoarthritis (39.4%) compared to those with other diseases. Only 1.2% of the total sample was found to have high or very high quality of life. Those receiving home care, however, were found to score higher in the Quality of Life Index, compared to those not receiving any kind of care (28.02 versus 26.79, respectively, p<0.001); however, they had a lower mean score in the Life Satisfaction Index (7.07 versus 7.44, respectively, p<0,001). There was no significant difference in the Expectations from Life Index (p>0.05). Among those receiving care, the highest mean difference of probabilities (+53) for worse life expectancy (66.0) versus better (14.0) was documented in the samples of Greece.
Conclusion. Receiving of home care by people aged 50+ is an indicator of improved quality of life. Providing of intensive and continuous care needs to be part of health promotion planning for dependent people or those in need of care.
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Ποιότητα ζωής, ικανοποίηση από τη ζωή & προσδοκίες εξυπηρετούμενων ατόμων με κατ’ οίκον λήψη φροντίδας, ηλικίας 50+ ετών, από 12 χώρες της Ευρώπης (μελέτη SHARE 2006-7).
