독거노인에서 건강관련 삶의 질과 보완대체의학이용 및 의도와의 관련성

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Association between Health-related Quality of Life and Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Elderly Living Alone

Park, Sun-Mi Advisor : Prof. Han, Mi Ah M.D., Ph.D Department of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Graduate School of Chosun University

Purpose : This study aimed to identify association between the health-related quality of life and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in elderly living alone. Method : A face-to-face survey with each elderly who lives alone in Gwangju, was proceed for two months from October to September, 2013, and 500 questionnaires were analyzed for this study. General characteristics, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) related factors and health related quality of life (HRQoL : EQ-5D) were collected. Chi-squre tests and multiple logistic regression were tested to evaluate association between HRQoL and CAM use. We performed multiple logistic regression to identify whether factor of life quality was independently meaningful variables to CAM use after controlling the confounding variables. Result : A total of 500 subjects, 95.6% were women and 39.8% were more than 80 years. About 51% elderly lived alone for more than 15 years. The pain/discomfort dimension was the highest reported problem: 63.7% for elderly. The proportion of CAM use was significantly higher among elderly with problem in mobility compared to elderly without problem (OR=1.94, 95% CI=1.05-3.60). The proportion of CAM use intention was significantly higher among elderly with problem in mobility (OR=2.02, 95% CI=1.10-3.71) and pain/discomfort (OR=3.51, 95% CI=1.38-8.90). Conclusion : The HRQoL was significanlty associated with CAM use in elderly living alone. Further study is needed to investigate the role of CAM in elderly considering elderly's medical conditions.

Key words : Health-related quality of life, Elderly living alone, Use intention, Complementary and alternative medicine