Quality of Life in Iranian Elderly

 Considering the increasing population of the elderly in different societies, it is important to pay attention to their basic physical and mental needs and Quality of Life (QOL). This study was conducted to acquire a comprehensive view of the QOL of the Iranian elderly and its associated factors.  This is a review article with a systematic search. In November 2016, Persian and English language articles were searched in databases including Web of Science, PubMed, Magiran, SID, Iran Scientific Information and Research Institute (IranDoc), Iranpsych, Noormags with the keywords of “elderly”, “adults”, “aged”, “Quality of Life”, “life quality”, “QOL”, “Iran”, and “older”. The related articles were assessed by the study’s inclusion and exclusion criteria and date compilation were taken until June 2016.   Through systematic search, 70 articles in various areas of QOL for the elderly were found. These areas included interventions in the QOL of the elderly (11 articles), demographic factors related to the QOL of the elderly (21 articles), the QOL of the elderly patients (7 articles), the status of the QOL of the elderly in Iran (14 articles), the QOL of the elderly (10 articles), and the effect of social protection on the QOL of the elderly (7 articles). About 92% of the articles reported the status of elderly QOL as low and moderate and 7% of the articles reported it as high. The QOL of the elderly is influenced by social support, economic factors, social class, demographic characteristics, physical condition, place of residence, and educational and sports activities.  Based on the obtained results, educational, nutritional and sports interventions, marital life, high education, home life, religious orientation, social participation, social support, health status, high socioeconomic status, and appropriate employment could increase the QOL of the elderly.