ANXIETY AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN OLDER ADULTS: THE ROLE OF SATISFACTION WITH OPEN ELDERLY CARE CENTERS

Georgia Konstantopoulou, Filio Zoupi, Elena Vrapi, Eleni-Zacharoula Georgiou

Abstract


The growing global population of older adults has led to increased research on psychiatric conditions in later life. Anxiety and depression are frequent in this population but are often underdiagnosed due to their overlap with physical illnesses. Most existing research indicates a negative relationship between psychological distress and quality of life in the elderly. This study aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety, satisfaction with Open Elderly Care Centers, and quality of life, while also exploring the role of gender. A cross-sectional design was used with a sample of 349 older adults attending Open Elderly Care Centers in Greece. Participants completed the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), the OPQOL-35 quality of life questionnaire, and a demographic survey. Correlational analysis and independent tests were conducted. Higher levels of anxiety were significantly associated with lower quality of life (r = –0.21, p < 0.001), with a stronger effect among men (r = –0.44). Women reported higher anxiety scores but also slightly higher quality of life. Satisfaction with care services showed no significant correlation with quality of life, and gender had no moderating effect on this relationship. The findings confirm a negative link between anxiety and quality of life in older adults, supporting previous literature. The lack of association between satisfaction with care and quality of life highlights the complexity of these relationships. Gender differences in emotional response may merit further exploration.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


anxiety; satisfaction; Open Care Centers for the Elderly; quality of life; aging; gender differences

Full Text:

PDF

References


Beutel, M. E., Jünger, C., Klein, E. M., Brähler, E., Michal, M., & Tibubos, A. N. (2021). Mental health and quality of life in the elderly: Longitudinal findings from the German population. BMC Geriatrics, 21(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02150-y

Brett, C. E., Gow, A. J., Corley, J., Pattie, A., Starr, J. M., & Deary, I. J. (2022). Anxiety symptoms and quality of life across the eighth decade: Findings from a longitudinal cohort study. Psychology and Aging, 37(3), 220–231. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000663

Dangerfield, H. J., Scott, J. M., Zohn, J. H., Segal, D. L., & Benton, M. J. (2023). Relationship between anxiety and quality of life among older adults with self-reported polypharmacy in long-term care: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 79(8), 2978–2988. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15691

Ding, S., Liu, G., Xu, F., Ji, K., Zhao, L., Zheng, X., Benjamin, O., Wang, Z., Yang, S., & Chen, R. (2022). The satisfaction of elderly people with elderly caring social organizations and its relationship with social support and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. BMC Geriatrics, 22(1), 827. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-022-03547-8

Grenier, S., Vasiliadis, H. M., Préville, M., & Boyer, R. (2019). Anxiety in older adults: A critical review of current research and perspectives. Clinical Geriatrics, 27(1), 12–22.

López, J., Pérez-Rojo, G., Noriega, C., Sánchez-Cabaco, A., Sitges, E., & Bonete, B. (2020). Quality of life in older adults: Its association with emotional distress and psychological well-being. Aging & Mental Health, 24(11), 1945–1952. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2019.1660858

Patsios, D., Pliakas, T., & Polychronopoulou, S. (2015). Community care for older people in Greece: The role of Open Care Centers for the Elderly (KAPI). Social Work Review, 123, 45–59.

Reynolds, C. F., Cuijpers, P., Patel, V., Cohen, A., Dias, A., Chowdhary, N., & Saxena, S. (2020). Early intervention to reduce the global health and economic burden of major depression in older adults. Annual Review of Public Health, 41, 225–242. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094247

Santini, Z. I., Jose, P. E., Cornwell, E. Y., Koyanagi, A., Nielsen, L., Hinrichsen, C., & Koushede, V. (2020). Social disconnectedness, perceived isolation, and symptoms of depression and anxiety among older Americans (NSHAP): A longitudinal mediation analysis. The Lancet Public Health, 5(1), e62–e70. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30230-0

Tinios, P., Daskalopoulou, D., & Triantafyllidou, A. (2021). Aging in Greece: Challenges and policy directions (Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe, No. 162). London School of Economics. https://www.lse.ac.uk/Hellenic-Observatory/Publications/Papers

Wang, Y., Wang, D., Han, B., & Xu, L. (2023). Gender differences in mental health service utilization among older adults: A population-based study. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 1092. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15992-2

World Health Organization. (2017). Mental health of older adults. Geneva: World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-of-older-adults

World Health Organization. (2021). Decade of healthy ageing 2021–2030. Geneva: World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/initiatives/decade-of-healthy-ageing




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejphs.v8i4.234

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2025 Georgia Konstantopoulou, Filio Zoupi, Elena Vrapi, Eleni-Zacharoula Georgiou

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2019 - 2026. European Journal of Public Health Studies (ISSN 2668-1056/ISSN-L 2668-1056) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library. All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and standards formulated by Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003) and Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copyrights of the published research works are retained by authors.