Journal of health research in community

Introduction and Purpose Considering that in the near future, older people will make up a large portion of the country’s population, proper social planning and facilities are needed to meet their needs. The present study aims to investigate the relationship of socio-economic status (SES) and a health-oriented culture with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Iranian older adults.
Methods This is a cross-sectional survey conducted on 375 elderly residents of Abadeh city, Fars province, Iran, who were selected via cluster random sampling. Data collection was conducted using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) questionnaire  and researcher-developed questionnaires to measure SES and health-oriented culture. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS software using Pearson’s correlation test, independent t-test, and multiple regression analysis. The significance level was set at 0.05.
Results The SES (r=0.295, P<0.001) and health-oriented culture (r=0.247, P<0.001) had a positive and significant relationship with HRQOL. No significant difference was observed between men and women in terms of HRQOL. It was found that SES could significantly affect HRQOL indirectly through health-oriented culture (P=0.037). SES and health-oriented culture explained 13.8% of the variance in HRQOL.
Conclusion The results indicated the moderate HRQOL of the elderly in Abadeh. Those with higher SES have higher health-oriented culture and, thus, better HRQOL. Social planners in the field of health need to institutionalize a health-oriented culture for individuals before they reach old age.