Abstract

Aim. The aim of the study was to asses the functional status and quality of life of patients over 60 years of age living in the community and using institutional care.

Materials and Methods. The study included 60 people aged 66 to 98 (82.8 ± 8.4), residents of a long-term care facility (HCC) and patients of geriatric clinic. Both groups were equal in size. An original survey was used in the study. In order to assess the functional status, handgrip measurement (HGS), the Up and Go test (TUG), short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and the Barthel scale were performed and the WHOQOL-BREEF questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life. The obtained results were subjected to statistical analysis. The normality of the distributions was verified using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Student’s T-test and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test were used to determine the statistical significance of differences between groups. The significance level was set to p < 0.05.

Results/ All tests assessing functional status and quality of life differed between groups at the level of statistical significance (p < 0.001).Physical fitness significantly influenced the quality of life (p < 0.001).

Conclusions/ People living in an institutional environment achieved poorer results in all functional and quality of life tests. The quality of life depended on the functional status and was higher in people living in an institutional environment.

Key words

functional status, quality of life, erderly people, institutional care