Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to elucidate the quality of life of older adults/patients with degenerative lumbar diseases (ODLs) and analyse its association with some of their health-related perceptions.
Materials and Methods
This mixed-methods study consisted of a questionnaire survey and an in-depth interview, which was designed within this study. ODLs were recruited from January 12, 2017 to June 27, 2018. The independent sample t-test and grounded theory coding method were employed for data analysis.
Results
Of the 125 participants who returned valid questionnaires, 18 were included in the in-depth interviews. ODLs’ quality of life was associated with the following health-related perceptions: “life barriers”, “subjective health status”, and “treatment outcomes” across the domains of physiology, psychology, social relations, and environment.
Conclusion
Our findings indicate that ODLs’ quality of life is associated with their health-related perceptions. Thus, to improve older adults’ quality of life, more attention should be paid to enhancing non-medical factors such as their health-related perceptions.
Ethical Approval
This study was approved by the School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients prior to their participation in the study. All the participants consent included publication of anonymized responses.
Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate all participants of this study for their selfless participation and dedication.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest for this work.