Subjective health and quality of life among elderly people living with chronic multimorbidity and difficulty in activities of daily living in rural South Africa

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic profile of the sample population. HAALSI 2015 (n=2,627)

	Sample %	SRH		Depression		Quality of life
		Not good	Good	Yes	No	Not good	Good
		55.3	44.7	18.7	81.3	37.0	63.0
Age groups
60–69	47.7	44.7	51.5	42.9	49.9	39.4	52.6
70–79	32.1	30.9	33.7	30.4	32.5	33.3	31.5
80+	20.1	24.4	14.8	26.8	17.6	27.3	15.9
p-value		0.005		<0.001		<0.001
Sex
Male	47.7	46.8	48.9	41.6	49.3	44.3	49.7
Female	52.3	53.2	51.1	58.4	50.7	55.7	50.3
p-value		0.150		<0.001		<0.001
Current marital status
Unmarried	53.4	55.4	51.0	57.7	51.7	59.2	50.1
Married	46.5	44.6	49.0	42.3	48.3	40.8	49.9
p-value		0.013		<0.001		<0.001
Education
No formal education	60.5	63.1	57.8	60.8	59.9	71.3	54.5
Some primary (1–7 years)	32.5	29.9	36.0	33.3	33.1	24.7	37.3
Some secondary (8–11 years)	4.9	5.5	4.4	4.0	5.4	3.6	5.8
Secondary or more (12+ years)	1.6	1.5	1.8	1.8	1.6	0.4	2.4
p-value		0.005		0.116		<0.001
Employed
Yes	4.2	3.6	4.9	3.8	4.4	2.8	5.0
No	95.8	96.4	95.1	96.2	95.6	97.2	95.0
p-value		0.52		<0.001		<0.001
Wealth status
Not poor	61.0	61.5	60.3	63.4	60.1	67.6	57.1
Poor	39.0	38.5	39.7	36.6	39.9	32.4	42.9
p-value		0.127		<0.001		<0.001
Living environment
Satisfactory	1.7	2.3	0.9	2.2	1.5	2.3	1.3
Not satisfactory	95.3	97.7	99.1	97.8	98.5	97.7	98.7
p-value		<0.001		<0.001		<0.001
Ever smoker
Yes	21.1	20.9	21.3	19.5	21.9	18.4	22.7
No	78.9	79.1	78.7	80.5	78.1	81.6	77.3
p-value		<0.001		<0.001		<0.001
Ever drinks alcohol
Yes	50.1	49.5	50.9	55.7	49.3	52.2	48.9
No	49.9	50.5	49.1	44.3	50.7	47.8	51.1
p-value		0.147		<0.001		<0.001
Leisure time PA
Yes	35.0	35.7	34.0	41.2	31.6	40.7	31.6
No	65.0	64.3	66.0	58.8	68.4	59.3	68.4
p-value		0.101		<0.001		<0.001
NCDs
None	42.6	39.6	46.2	34.0	44.7	40.9	43.6
1	40.7	40.6	40.9	41.6	41.0	38.0	42.3
>1	16.7	19.8	12.8	24.3	14.4	21.1	14.1
p-value		<0.001		<0.001		<0.001
ADL difficulties
No	87.4	82.1	93.9	77.6	91.2	78.3	92.7
Yes	12.6	17.9	6.1	22.4	8.8	21.7	7.3
p-value		<0.001		<0.001		<0.001

Abbreviations: HAALSI, Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa; SRH, self-reported health; PA, physical activity; NCDs, non-communicable diseases; ADL, activities of daily living.

Table 2 Predictors of good subjective health among elderly South Africans. HAALSI 2015

	Overall	Male	Female
Age (60–69)	1	1	1
70–79	1.033	1.256	0.843
	[0.861, 1.240]	[0.969, 1.627]	[0.649, 1.095]
80+	0.664***	0.735	0.577***
	[0.526, 0.837]	[0.518, 1.043]	[0.420, 0.793]
Sex (male)	1	NA	NA
Female	1.032
	[0.834, 1.275]
Current marital status (unmarried)	1	1	1
Married	1.088	1.230	0.930
	[0.903, 1.310]	[0.945, 1.602]	[0.711, 1.217]
Education (no formal education)	1	1	1
Some primary (1–7 years)	1.239*	1.401**	1.115
	[1.036, 1.482]	[1.086, 1.808]	[0.865, 1.439]
Some secondary (8–11 years)	0.768	0.654	1.115
	[0.527, 1.119]	[0.406, 1.051]	[0.586, 2.122]
Secondary or more (12+ years)	1.104	1.106	1.189
	[0.590, 2.067]	[0.528, 2.316]	[0.345, 4.102]
Employed (yes)	1	1	1
No	0.871	0.843	0.834
	[0.591, 1.283]	[0.534, 1.332]	[0.390, 1.785]
Wealth status (poor)	1	1	1
Not poor	0.971	1.034	0.934
	[0.817, 1.153]	[0.806, 1.327]	[0.734, 1.188]
Living environment (not satisfactory)	1	1	1
Satisfactory	2.103*	1.274	3.152*
	[1.038, 4.263]	[0.443, 3.659]	[1.161, 8.553]
Ever smoker (no)	1	1	1
Yes	1.135	1.077	1.228
	[0.899, 1.433]	[0.834, 1.389]	[0.547, 2.757]
Ever drinks alcohol (no)	1	1	1
Yes	0.874	0.966	0.796
	[0.729, 1.049]	[0.733, 1.274]	[0.622, 1.019]
Takes exercise (no)	1	1	1
Yes	0.901*	0.788	0.878
	[0.699, 0.989]	[0.616, 1.009]	[0.686, 1.124]
NCDs (none)	1	1	1
1	0.904	0.921	0.894
	[0.760, 1.076]	[0.715, 1.187]	[0.701, 1.140]
>1	0.622***	0.581**	0.647*
	[0.489, 0.792]	[0.408, 0.825]	[0.462, 0.906]
ADL difficulties (no)	1	1	1
Yes	0.372***	0.475***	0.300***
	[0.277, 0.500]	[0.311, 0.723]	[0.197, 0.459]
N	2627	1259	1368
Adjusted R^2	0.431	0.312	0.446

Notes: Numbers represent ORs; 95% CIs in square brackets. Reference category in round brackets. *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001.

Abbreviations: HAALSI, Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa; NCDs, non-communicable diseases; ADL, activities of daily living.

Table 3 Predictors of having no depression among elderly South Africans. HAALSI 2015

	Overall	Male	Female
Age (60–69)	1	1	1
70–79	1.054	1.038	1.051
	[0.826, 1.345]	[0.721, 1.494]	[0.754, 1.466]
80+	0.781	0.714	0.805
	[0.591, 1.032]	[0.463, 1.102]	[0.554, 1.169]
Sex (male)	1	NA	NA
Female	0.690**
	[0.521, 0.914]
Current marital status (unmarried)	1	1	1
Married	1.002	1.283	0.819
	[0.784, 1.280]	[0.904, 1.820]	[0.585, 1.147]
Education (no formal education)	1	1	1
Some primary (1–7 years)	0.866	0.919	0.855
	[0.687, 1.091]	[0.650, 1.298]	[0.625, 1.171]
Some secondary (8–11 years)	1.004	1.255	0.773
	[0.598, 1.686]	[0.637, 2.470]	[0.338, 1.767]
Secondary or more (12+ years)	0.598	0.714	0.437
	[0.270, 1.323]	[0.254, 2.010]	[0.115, 1.655]
Employed (yes)	1	1	1
No	1.122	1.329	0.827
	[0.666, 1.890]	[0.714, 2.471]	[0.302, 2.265]
Wealth status (poor)	1	1	1
Not poor	1.165	1.133	1.192
	[0.930, 1.458]	[0.803, 1.598]	[0.883, 1.608]
Living environment (not satisfactory)	1	1	1
Satisfactory	1.133	0.599	1.501
	[0.545, 2.356]	[0.129, 2.776]	[0.629, 3.583]
Ever smoker (no)	1	1	1
Yes	0.896	0.886	0.903
	[0.660, 1.218]	[0.630, 1.247]	[0.364, 2.239]
Ever drinks alcohol (no)	1	1	1
Yes	1.582***	1.635*	1.546**
	[1.255, 1.995]	[1.099, 2.432]	[1.154, 2.073]
Takes exercise (no)	1	1	1
Yes	1.240	0.982	1.478**
	[0.997, 1.542]	[0.703, 1.373]	[1.106, 1.974]
NCDs (none)	1	1	1
1	0.782*	0.702	0.831
	[0.619, 0.987]	[0.491, 1.005]	[0.608, 1.136]
>1	0.496***	0.391***	0.582**
	[0.373, 0.659]	[0.255, 0.599]	[0.395, 0.859]
ADL difficulties (no)	1	1	1
Yes	0.464***	0.489**	0.436***
	[0.348, 0.618]	[0.312, 0.768]	[0.299, 0.637]
N	2627	1259	1368
adjusted R^2	0.292	0.338	0.319

Notes: Numbers represent ORs; 95% CIs in square brackets. Reference category in round brackets. *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001.

Abbreviations: HAALSI, Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa; NCDs, non-communicable diseases; ADL, activities of daily living.

Table 4 Predictors of good subjective quality of life among elderly South Africans. HAALSI 2015

	Overall	Male	Female
Age (60–69)	1	1	1
70–79	0.889	1.129	0.709*
	[0.731, 1.081]	[0.850, 1.500]	[0.539, 0.933]
80+	0.727**	0.812	0.633**
	[0.576, 0.918]	[0.569, 1.157]	[0.461, 0.870]
Sex (male)	1	NA	NA
Female	0.972
	[0.776, 1.218]
Current marital status (unmarried)	1	1	1
Married	1.086	1.279	0.884
	[0.890, 1.325]	[0.970, 1.687]	[0.663, 1.179]
Education (no formal education)	1	1	1
Some primary (1–7 years)	1.623***	1.329*	1.985***
	[1.337, 1.970]	[1.007, 1.754]	[1.507, 2.613]
Some secondary (8–11 years)	1.558*	1.258	2.135
	[1.025, 2.367]	[0.756, 2.094]	[0.984, 4.633]
Secondary or more (12+ years)	6.893**	3.526*	1
	[2.078, 22.87]	[1.034, 12.03]	[1,1]
Employed (yes)	1	1	1
	[1,1]	[1,1]	[1,1]
No	0.791	0.595	1.332
	[0.504, 1.244]	[0.334, 1.059]	[0.607, 2.922]
Wealth status (poor)	1	1	1
Not poor	1.264*	1.497**	1.100
	[1.052, 1.519]	[1.138, 1.969]	[0.855, 1.417]
Living environment (not satisfactory)	1	1	1
Satisfactory	1.399	0.688	2.171
	[0.741, 2.640]	[0.226, 2.088]	[0.955, 4.935]
Ever smoker (no)	1	1	1
Yes	0.794	0.738*	1.077
	[0.618, 1.019]	[0.560, 0.972]	[0.484, 2.397]
Ever drinks alcohol (no)	1	1	1
Yes	1.229*	1.286	1.157
	[1.015, 1.487]	[0.952, 1.738]	[0.900, 1.488]
Takes exercise (no)	1	1	1
Yes	1.013	1.111	0.951
	[0.843, 1.217]	[0.853, 1.448]	[0.735, 1.229]
NCDs (none)	1	1	1
1	1.030	1.043	1.030
	[0.854, 1.242]	[0.789, 1.379]	[0.797, 1.332]
>1	0.654***	0.561**	0.724
	[0.511, 0.836]	[0.391, 0.804]	[0.514, 1.019]
ADL difficulties (no)	1	1	1
Yes	0.450***	0.483***	0.430***
	[0.344, 0.589]	[0.324, 0.721]	[0.297, 0.622]
N	2627	1259	1357
adjusted R^2	0.540	0.421	0.496

Notes: Numbers represent ORs; 95% CIs in square brackets. Reference category in round brackets. *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001.

Abbreviations: HAALSI, Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa; NCDs, non-communicable diseases; ADL, activities of daily living.