Mental health is the most important factor influencing quality of life in elderly left behind when families migrate out of rural China

Xie, Jian-fei; Ding, Si-qing; Zhong, Zhu-qing; Yi, Qi-feng; Zeng, Sai-nan; Hu, Jun-hua; Zhou, Jian-da

doi:10.1590/0104-1169.3400.2425

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Original Articles • Rev. Latino-Am. Enfermagem 22 (03) • May-Jun 2014 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-1169.3400.2425 copy

Mental health is the most important factor influencing quality of life in elderly left behind when families migrate out of rural China¹ 1 Supported by Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Provice process # 13JJ5015 and by Chia Family Foundation Health Fellowship Program which funded by the Yale-China Association (2013-2015)

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

OBJECTIVES:

to investigate the quality of life and the associated factors on left behind elderly in rural China.

METHOD:

the research was conducted cluster sampling to select 456 elderly left behind when family members migrated out of rural China to participate in a cross-sectional study by completing a general data questionnaire and Quality of Life questionnaire.

RESULTS:

91.5% of the elderly requested psychological counseling and education. For the elderly, scores for mental health (39.56±13.73) were significantly lower compared with Chinese standard data (61.6±13.7) (P<0.001). Age, chronic disease type, gender, residence pattern and economic support from children were the main psychological factors influencing this population.

CONCLUSION:

mental health is the most important factor influencing quality of life of elderly left behind when family members migrated out of rural China. Our study suggested a need to widely establish a general practitioner team for psychological intervention for improving rural elderly people's Quality of Life level, especially in the psychological domain.

Quality of Life; Rural Health; Aged; Mental Health

Characteristics		N	%
Gender
	Male	276	63.6
	Female	158	36.4
Age (year)
	60-69	187	43.1
	70-79	189	43.5
	≥80	58	13.4
Education
	Less than a primary school education	405	93.3
	Primary school	21	4.8
	Junior high school and above	8	1.8
Type of residence
	Living alone	165	38.0
	Living with spouse	78	18.0
	Living with other family members	191	44.0
Insurance
	No medical insurance	23	5.3
	New rural cooperative medical system (NCMS)	392	90.3
	Other medical insurance	19	4.4
Number of chronic diseases
	0	25	5.8
	1	144	33.2
	≥2	265	61.1
Economic support
	Low	283	65.2
	Middle	129	29.7
	High	22	5.1
Visit frequency
	1 month	21	4.8
	<6 months	76	17.5
	≥6 months	337	77.6
History of psychological counseling and psychological education
	Yes	33	7.6
	No	401	92.4
Needs of psychological counseling and psychological education
	Yes	397	91.5
	No	37	8.53

Groups	Physiological domain	Psychological domain	Social domain	Environmental domain
Left behind elderly in rural China	50.23±12.31	39.56±13.73	37.23±9.32	50.19±12.08
Chinese standard data	61.3±16.3	61.6±13.7	64.6±14.2	52.9±13.5
t value	-18.741	-33.439	-61.151	-21.930
p value	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000

Variable	Gender	Mean ±SD	t value	p value
Q1: The subjective attitudes of QOL	Male	2.75±0.43	8.153	0.000
Q1: The subjective attitudes of QOL	Female	2.15±0.87
Q2: The subjective attitudes of health condition	Male	2.76±0.43	7.933	0.000
Q2: The subjective attitudes of health condition	Female	2.22±0.81
Physiological domain scores	Male	12.78±1.64	12.038	0.000
Physiological domain scores	Female	10.73±1.82
Psychological domain scores	Male	9.92±1.91	-4.939	0.000
Psychological domain scores	Female	11.04±2.48
Social domain scores	Male	12.23±1.78	2.817	0.005
Social domain scores	Female	11.67±2.13
Environmental domain scores	Male	9.89±1.27	2.364	0.017
Environmental domain scores	Female	10.06±1.82

Variable	Residence	N	Mean rank	H value	Visit frequency	N	Mean rank	H value
Physiological	Living alone	165	241.51	26.038*	1 month	21	217.48	1.699
	Living with spouse	78	155.44		<6 months	76	200.77
	Living with other family members	191	222.10		≥6 months	337	221.27
Psychological	Living alone	165	175.27	105.738*	1 month	21	224.50	42.153^†
	Living with spouse	78	345.69		<6 months	76	300.45
	Living with other family members	191	201.63		≥6 months	337	198.36
Social	Living alone	165	199.29	35.375*	1 month	21	209.69	.708
	Living with spouse	78	290.63		<6 months	76	227.65
	Living with other family members	191	203.36		≥6 months	337	215.70
Environment	Living alone	165	224.54	1.552	1 month	21	182.45	14.628^†
	Living with spouse	78	203.26		<6 months	76	265.53
	Living with other family members	191	217.24		≥6 months	337	208.85

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[1] Corresponding Author: Jianda Zhou Third Xiangya Hospital. Central South University 138 Tongzipo Road Changsha 410013, Hunan, China E-mail: doctorzhoujianda@163.com