Centre for Policy on Ageing



Life events and the quality of life in old age — report from a medical-social intervention study
Author(s)	A Grimby, A Svanborg
Journal title	Aging: Clinical and Experimental Research, vol 8, no 3, June 1996
Pages	pp 162-169
Keywords	Quality of life ; Health [elderly] ; Medical care ; Social surveys ; Sweden.
Annotation	In a broad medical-social intervention study in Sweden on the possibility of postponing or preventing age-related dysfunction, changes in the subjective evaluation of quality of life (QL) and the experience of major life events (LE) were recorded between ages 70 to 76. Significantly more negative than positive LE were reported, the most common related to disease and death in the family. Children's divorce was rated the most serious LE. The most positive were travel and birth of a grandchild, but recovery from disease was ranked highest. Despite the predominance of negative LE, QL scores improved both in a representative population sample that was given support in the form of a medical social intervention for 2 years, and in a control sample undergoing the identical health surveys but no further active help. It was not possible to discern whether retained well-being could be attributed to the intervention as was hypothesised.
Accession Number	CPA-970327018 A
Classmark	F:59: CC: LK: 3F: 76P
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.