INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AND ELDERLY’S HEALTH STATUS

Abolghasem Pourreza, Maryam Tajvar, Ehsan Ebadganjeh and Seyedeh Mahboubeh Hosseini Zare*

ABSTRACT

The elderly mostly suffer from health issues such as chronic illnesses, progressive disabilities and ailments. Although the importance of socio-economic status on the elderly’s health is clear, the involved factors remains to be clear. Clarification of the effects of socio-economic factors on the health of the elderly would be helpful for decision makers and decent resource allocation. Methods: In the current research, we conducted cross-sectional studies in Tehran, Iran. Participents were collected randomly and the data were obtained by questionnaire. Internet and library searches were used to make and improve an appropriate questionnaire. To approve the content validity of questionnaire, we did the literature review and interviewed eight experts and professor of health care management. Questionnaires were distributed among 140 elderly who were older than 60 year and lived in nursing home and 280 elderly who have the same age criterion but lived with their families. SPSS software was used for data analysis. Results: 406 out of 420 questionnaires were filled by participants, which presents 96.6% responsibility. Our data shows a statistical significant correlation between socioeconomic status and mental, physical and social health. Conclusion: Here we show that the elderly’s marital status, educational level, occupational type, and property ownership are affective on the all of physical, social and mental health status of the elderly’s. in addition, the occupied married elderly with the master/doctorate degree have better health status in compare with other participants.

Keywords: socioeconomic status, social, mental, physical health and elderly.