Social Capital and Its Relation with Quality of Life and Self Efficacy among the Elderly People, Tabriz, 2018

Abstract

Abstract Background and Objective: Paying attention to the Quality of Life (QOL) and self-efficacy in elderly life is an important issue for the criticality of this period. The Objective of present study is to determine social capital and its relation with QOL and self-efficacy among elderly people. Methods: The present cross-sectional descriptive-correlational study was carried out in 2018 on 522 elderly people who referred to health centers in Tabriz, Iran. A multi-stage random cluster sampling was implemented. Data were collected using demographic questionnaire, Bullen-Onyx social capital, WHOQOL-BREF Quality Of Life, and sherer self-efficacy questionnaires. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (ver. 15) and descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean±SD) and analytical statistics (Pearson, and Multivariate linear regression). P≤ 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: The mean age of participants was 65.66 years. 58% of them were women, 85.5% were married, and 37.5% were illiterate. Mean± SD of social capital score was 71.87±10.51 (scoring range was 36-144) and for QOL, it was 64.64±10.88 (in the range of 0-100) and for self-efficacy, it was 63.25±6.73 (in the range of 17-85). Social capital had positive significant relation with QOL (P<0.01, r=0.412) and self-efficacy (P<0.01, r=0.372). Out of all studied variables, marital status, education, economic status, health status, not having cardiovascular diseases and joint pains had significant relation with QOL (P≤0.05). The level of education, economic status, health status, absence of cardiovascular disease, age and number of children showed a significant relationship with self-efficacy (P≤0.05). Social capital was considered to be a predictive factor for QOL and self-efficacy adjusted for context factors. Conclusion: it can be concluded that to promote QOL and self-efficacy among elderly people, strategies must be implemented by health policy makers to enhance social capital among elderly people.