Quality of life among the elderly in Rumah Seri Kenangan, Cheras: An analysis of socio-demographic determinants / Mag Wencellas

While the trends of increasing lifespan are a remarkable success of the advancement in healthcare, living longer does not equate to high quality of life. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the relationships between age, education level, previous employment and marital status towards the quality of life among the elderly in Rumah Seri Kenangan, Cheras. This study was undertaken based on a quantitative research approach through the adoption of the Ferrans conceptual model for quality of life, which was broken down into four subscales, aimed at determining the factors derived from the socio-demographic determinants. These socio-demographic determinants were later used to identify the level of quality of life among the elderly at the Rumah Seri Kenangan, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. The primary data obtained through the responses from questionnaires, involved a population sample of 145 (n=145) of the Rumah Seri Kenangan residents. The analyses obtained from this study revealed that there was no significant relationship between age (X2 = 5.509, with df = 8 at p>0.05, phi = 0.195 and Cramer’s V = 0.138); education level (X2 = 6.527, with df = 8 at p>0.05, phi = 0.212 and Cramer’s V = 0.150) and prior employment (X2 = 13.289, with df = 8 at p>0.05, phi = 0.303 and Cramer’s V = 0.214) of the elderly’s quality of life. Meanwhile only one independent variable out of four (4), marital status (X2 = 16.293, with df = 8 at p