Multiple factors associated with life satisfaction in older adults

Introduction
The population of older adults is increasing as science progresses and health conditions improve. Social, psychological and behavioral factors will influence life satisfaction in older adults. We aimed to assess multiple factors associated with life satisfaction in older adults in Qom city, Iran.

Material and methods
It was a descriptive-analytical study which has conducted on 679 older adults through convenience sampling from Qom city, Iran during 2018. The data were collected using demographic characteristics, life satisfaction, well-being, cognitive status, social support, and daily activities of life questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 22 software and independent t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis.

Results
The mean older adult’s age was 70.43 ± 7.62 years. The mean life satisfaction score was 13.77 ± 3.73. The results showed a significant relationship of job and education with life satisfaction (p < 0.001). The results also showed that social support (p = 0.001) and daily activities (p = 0.017) significantly predict the level of life satisfaction, and the dimensions of health (p = 0.001) and cognitive status (p = 0.007) have a larger share in predicting the satisfaction of older adults’ life.

Conclusions
We found that some parts of life changes in older adults can be predicted with the help of social support, health status, cognitive status, and everyday life activities. Therefore, in order to increase the level of life satisfaction of older adults, it is suggested that promotion of social support, health status, and cognitive status be provided.