The relation between functional performance and satisfaction with life in elderly

Abstract

THE RELATION BETwEEN FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE AND SATISFACTION wITH LIFE IN ELDERLy Nelson SousaI,a, Romeu MendesI, Victor MonteiroI, Jorge FernandesII ICentro de Investigação de Desporto, Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano. Universidade de Trás- os-Montes e Alto Douro. Vila Real, Portugal IIUniversidade de Évora. Évora, Portugal Introduction: It is increasingly common in elderly care institutions the development of recreational and social activities, with the intuited to promote health and well-be- ing. However, most of the institutionalized elderly spent their time doing little or nothing, restricting their daily life activities. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to deter- mine the relationship between functional performance and self-perceived life satisfaction in elderly; and to understand the differences between institutionalized and non-institu- tionalized elderly from the northeast of Portugal. Methods: A total of 183 elderly (105 women and 78 men) participated in this cross-sectional study. The sam- ple was divided in institutionalized (n=85, 74.5±5.9 years, BMI=27.22±3.2 kg/m2) and non-institutionalized elderly (n=98, 73.6±5.5, BMI=28.9±3.3 kg/m2). Functional per- formance was assessed by the Timed Up & Go test (TUG) that is also a recommend tool for screening falls risk, and self-perceived life satisfaction by Satisfaction With Life Scale questionnaire (SWLS). Comparison of means and association between variables were performed by non-para- metric tests. Results: No significant associations were identified between TUG and SWLS. However, the non-institutionalized elderly showed a significantly superior performance on the TUG compared with the institutionalized elderly (8.0±1.6 vs. 11.0±2.4 seconds respectively, p<0.001). The non-insti- tutionalized elderly also expressed significantly higher values in SWLS (p<0.001). Conclusions: Non-institutionalized elderly are more fit, have lower tendencies to fall, and have greater life satis- faction compared to the institutionalized elderly. These results suggest that all interventions aimed to promote well-being of institutionalized elderly should consider increasing physical fitness. Descriptors:Aging. BMI. Fitness. Life satisfaction. Institutions.