부산대학교 도서관

Purpose: This study was to analyze the factors influencing on perceived health status (PHS) in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 182 older adults (≥= 65 years) at five senior welfare centers participated in this study. Data were collected with questionnaires including sociodemographic variables, depression, disability, health behaviors, and perceived health status (PHS). PHS were recorded within a quintile scale ranging from excellent to poor. In line with previous studies, we converted the scale into a dichotomous measure: not bad ("excellent", "very good", or "average") or bad ("poor" or "very poor"). Bivariate analysis assessing the relationship between self-rated economic status, depression, disability, health behaviors, and PHS was completed using SPSS. Results: 90.1% of subjects have enrolled in more than one program at five senior welfare centers. 34.6% of subjects rated their health "poor". There were significant effects on the interaction between poor PHS and poor self-rated economic status (OR=1.64, 95% CI=2.31-11.51), depression (OR=1.29, 95% CI=1.65-8.09), having disability (OR=1.15, 95% CI=1.37-17.22), and non-regular exercise (OR=1.45, 95% CI=0.94-19.10). These factors explained 30-42% of variance in PHS in our data. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that poor PHS is associated not only with health problems such as depression and disability but also with subjective low economic status to even elderly enrolling in senior welfare centers. Therefore, we suggest that policy initiatives are necessary in order to mitigate the negative impact on health.