Is self-esteem associated with the elderly person’s quality of life?

Cross-sectional web survey developed with 519 elderly people. Participants filled out three data collection instruments developed on the Google Forms platform and widely disseminated through all of Brazil. Fisher’s exact test, Mann-Whitney, Pearson correlation, and linear regression with 95% confidence interval were used.

Results:

Self-esteem was associated with all quality-of-life facets: sensory skills [β= 1.307; p<0.001]; autonomy [β= 2.101; p<0.001]; past, present, and future activities [β= 2.486; p<0.001]; social presence [β= 2.547; p<0.001]; death and dying [β= 2.175; p<0.001]; and intimacy [β=2.378; p<0.001].

Conclusion:

There is a positive and statistically significant association between self-esteem and quality of life in the elderly. We therefore suggest the development of local policies capable of raising this age groups’ self-esteem and reaffirming aging as a new possibility for discoveries and pleasure.

Descriptors:
Mental Health; Elderly Health; Public Health; Geriatric Nursing; Holistic Nursing

Variables	Self-esteem				p value
	Satisfactory		Unsatisfactory
	n	%	n	%
Sex					0.939
Male	265	74.9	89	25.1
Female	123	74.5	42	25.5
Marital Status
Married	227	72.5	86	27.5	0.318
Stable Union	83	76.9	25	23.1
Fixed Partner	78	79.6	20	20.4
Religion
Catholic	195	75.6	63	24.4	0.929
Protestant	53	74.6	18	25.4
Spiritist	54	77.1	16	22.9
Of African origins	7	77.8	2	22.2
No Religion	41	73.2	15	26.8
Others	38	69.1	17	30.9
Lives With Their Children
Yes	120	76.9	36	23.1	0.212
No	247	72.9	92	27.1
Does not have children	21	87.5	3	12.5
Ethnicity
White	251	73.8	89	26.2	0.034^* * Statistically significant differences for Fisher's exact test (p < 0,05).
Yellow	4	36.4	7	63.6
Black	20	74.1	7	25.9
Brown	104	80.6	25	19.4
Indian	1	50.0	1	50.0
Does not know	8	80.0	2	20.0
Brazilian Region
North	30	75.0	10	25.0	0.388
Northeast	61	79.2	16	20.8
Midwest	44	71.0	18	29.0
Southeast	184	77.0	55	23.0
South	69	68.3	32	31.7
Education
Elementary School	63	65.3	33	34.7
Middle School	24	60.0	16	40.0
High School	143	76.9	43	23.1
Higher Education	157	80.1	39	19.9
No Education	1	100	0	0.0
Sexual Orientation
Heterosexual	344	77.3	101	22.7	0.001^* * Statistically significant differences for Fisher's exact test (p < 0,05).
Homosexual	12	70.6	5	29.4
Bisexual	3	30.0	7	70.0
Others	29	61.7	18	38.3

QoL Facets	Self-esteem		U	p value
	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory
	M_d (IQ)	M_d (IQ)
Sensory skills	81.25 (68.75-93.75)	68.75 (50.00-81.25)	16605.00	*< 0.001^ * Statistical significance for the Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0,05); QoL: Quality of Life.**
Autonomy	75.00 (62.50-81.25)	56.25 (43.75-68.75)	11607.00	*< 0.001^ * Statistical significance for the Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0,05); QoL: Quality of Life.**
Past, present, and future activities	68.75 (56.25-81.25)	50.00 (37.50-62.50)	10189.00	*< 0.001^ * Statistical significance for the Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0,05); QoL: Quality of Life.**
Social presence	71.87 (56.25-81.25)	50.00 (31.25-56.25)	11451.00	*< 0.001^ * Statistical significance for the Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0,05); QoL: Quality of Life.**
Death and dying	75.00 (50.00-87.50)	56.25 (37.50-75.00)	17327.50	*< 0.001^ * Statistical significance for the Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0,05); QoL: Quality of Life.**
Intimacy	75.00 (68.75-87.50)	56.25 (37.50-75.00)	11116.50	*< 0.001^ * Statistical significance for the Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0,05); QoL: Quality of Life.**
Overall quality of life	71.87 (62.50-80.20)	53.12 (46.87-61.45)	7779.00	*< 0.001^ * Statistical significance for the Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0,05); QoL: Quality of Life.**

Quality of life facets	r	p value
Sensory skills	0.350	< 0.001
Autonomy	0.541	< 0.001
Past, present, and future activities	0.612	< 0.001
Social presence	0.564	< 0.001
Death and dying	0.363	< 0.001
Intimacy	0.580	< 0.001
Overall quality of life	0.713	< 0.001

	Non-standardized β	Standardized β	Standard error	95% CI	p	Durbin-Watson	R²
Sensory skills	1.307	0.340	0.245	0.825-1.789	< 0.001	1.992	0.123
Autonomy	2.101	0.569	0.211	1.686-2.517	< 0.001	1.960	0.294
Past, present, and future activities	2.486	0.605	0.221	2.052-2.920	< 0.001	2.053	0.375
Social presence	2.547	0.582	0.246	2.065-3.030	< 0.001	2.065	0.319
Death and dying	2.175	0.425	0.324	1.539-2.812	< 0.001	1.956	0.135
Intimacy	2.378	0.562	0.235	1.917-2.838	< 0.001	1.969	0.336
Overall quality of life	2.166	0.733	0.141	1.889-2.443	< 0.001	1.959	0.508

Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem SGA Norte Quadra 603 Conj. "B" - Av. L2 Norte 70830-102 Brasília, DF, Brasil, Tel.: (55 61) 3226-0653, Fax: (55 61) 3225-4473 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: reben@abennacional.org.br

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[1] Corresponding author: Edison Vitório de Souza Júnior E-mail: edison.vitorio@usp.br