Health-related quality of life and related factors among elderly persons under different aged care models in Guangzhou, China: a cross-sectional study

PURPOSE: To analyze health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and related factors among elderly persons receiving community-based home care and institutional care in Guangzhou, a large city of mainland China. METHODS: A representative sample of 1600 subjects aged 60 years and over residing in communities and nursing homes was randomly selected through stratified sampling. The 12-item Short Form Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) was used to assess HRQoL. RESULTS: In total, 1014 elderly persons under different aged care models responded to the survey (response rate 63.4%) and 1000 were eligible for data analyses. Compared with the elderly receiving community-based home care or private institutional care, those in public institutional care had the lowest scores on the physical component summary (PCS, 36.89 ± 10.44) and the mental component summary (MCS, 47.16 ± 11.14). Number of chronic diseases, loneliness, and age were the most common significant factors (P < 0.05) affecting PCS and MCS. The interaction term between aged care model and number of chronic diseases significantly affected PCS (β = − 0.165, P < 0.05), indicating a stronger association between these factors for participants receiving community-based home care than institutional care. The interaction term between aged care model and loneliness had a significant effect on MCS (β = 0.189, P < 0.05), indicating a weaker association between loneliness and MCS for participants receiving community-based home care. CONCLUSIONS: This study found poor HRQoL among the elderly in Guangzhou. The main factors associated with the physical and mental HRQoL of elderly persons included number of chronic diseases, loneliness, age, and education level. It also revealed the moderating effects of aged care model on HRQoL, suggesting specific health management strategies for elderly in community-based home care and institutional care, respectively.