Comparison of Social Health and Quality of Life Between the Elderlies Resident at Nursing Homes With Non-resident Counterparts in Tehran City, Iran

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the social health and quality of life of the older people resident in nursing homes with non-resident elderlies in Tehran City, Iran, in 2015.
Methods & Materials: In this descriptive-analytic study with a cross-sectional design, 434 older people, both resident and non-resident in nursing homes took part. The cluster sampling method was used for selecting nursing home resident elderlies and convenient sampling method for non-resident elderlies. Three tools of Keyes Social Health Scale, Elderly Quality of Life Questionnaire (LIPAD), and a demographic questionnaire were used to measure the variables. After sampling and gathering the questionnaires, the collected data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential indexes of the Chi-squared test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and the Independent t-test in SPSS.
A total of 217 elderlies resident in nursing homes (144 female and 73 male) and 217 non-resident elderlies (132 female and 85 male) took part in the study. Two groups were matched for gender, age, and education (P>0.05) but marriage status (P<0.05). Findings showed that the Mean±SD social health scores for resident and non-resident elderlies in nursing homes were respectively 45.92±7.87 and 47.25±8.91, and there was no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). The Mean±SD quality of life scores for resident and non-resident elderlies in nursing homes were respectively 27.88±9.80 and 31.81±10.79, and there was a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).
According to study results, the resident and non-resident elderlies in nursing homes of Tehran had low and medium social health and quality of life, respectively. In addition, residency at nursing homes was not an effective factor for elderly social health; however, it was an effective factor for the quality of life of older people.