Evaluation of lifestyle and quality of life in the elderly: a literature review

Ferreira, Luana Karoline; Meireles, Juliana Fernandes Filgueiras; Ferreira, Maria Elisa Caputo

doi:10.1590/1981-22562018021.180028

Abstract

Objective:

to analyze Brazilian and non-Brazilian scientific production that considers the relationship between the lifestyle and quality of life of the elderly.

Method:

an integrative review of literature was performed in the Scopus, PubMed, Virtual Health Library and PsycINFO databases. Four cross-searches were adopted: the English synonyms of the word "elderly" ("Aged", "Aging", "Old age" and "Elderly") with the terms "Quality of life" and "Lifestyle".

Results:

after the adoption of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 21 articles were analyzed. Physical activity, diet, body composition, alcohol intake, smoking and social relations were the main components of lifestyle investigated. The studies show that these factors influence the perception of the quality of life of the elderly. In addition to these factors, sociodemographic characteristics, functional capacity, sleep quality and comorbidities are also factors that influence the quality of life of the elderly.

Conclusion:

interest in the relationship between the lifestyle and quality of life of the elderly has increased in recent years. It was observed that the lifestyle of the elderly has been investigated in several ways, however no qualitative studies were found using the search criteria adopted in this review. As future perspectives, it is hoped that tools for evaluating the lifestyle of the elderly will be developed and qualitative investigations will be carried out in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the specificities that exist in the relationship between the lifestyle and levels of quality of life in old age.

Keywords:
Health of the Elderly; Life Style; Quality of Life; Review

[1] Correspondence Luana Karoline Ferreira luanak.ferreira@gmail.com

Combinations	Scopus	Pubmed	BVS	PsicINFO	Total
“aged” AND “quality of life” AND “lifestyle”	2132	427	1560	460	4579
“aging” AND “quality of life” AND “lifestyle”	687	121	235	134	1177
“old age” AND “quality of life” AND “lifestyle”	483	40	426	14	963
“elderly” AND “quality of life” AND “lifestyle”	515	273	964	45	1797
Total	3817	861	3185	653	8516

	Scopus	Pubmed	BVS	PsicINFO
Initial total in each database	3817	861	3185	653
Exclusion Criteria
Articles in duplicate	2998	750	1485	411
Other types of documents	0	0	0	42
Articles without instruments of evaluation of Quality of Life	705	110	1142	168
Abstracts not available	0	0	2	0
Non-empirical studies	0	0	49	0
Sample less than 60 years old	98	0	348	30
Articles without evaluation of any component of Lifestyle	9	0	141	2
Articles in other languages	1	0	0	0
Articles not available in entirety	0	0	1	0
Total for analysis	6	1	17	0

Reference (year)	Country and sample	Method	Lifestyle Components evaluated in study
Zaragoza-martí et al.¹⁸18 Zacaroza-Martí A, Ferrer-Cascalez R, Hurtado-Sánchez JA, Laguna Pérez A, Carboñero-Matínez MJ. relationship between adherence to the mediterranean diet and health-related quality of life and life satisfaction among older adults. J Nutr Health Aging. 2018;22(1):89-96.(2018)	Spain 351 elderly men and women aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Smoking Alcohol Body composition Physical activity Diet
Bayán-Bravo et al.¹⁹19 Bayán-Bravo A, Péres-Tasigchana RF, Sayón-Orea C, Matínez-Gomez D, López-Garcia E, Rodríguez-Artalejo F, et al. Combined impact of traditional and non-traditional healthy behaviors on health-related quality of life: a prospective study in older adults. Plos ONE. 2017;12(10):1-10. (2017)	Spain 1,323 elderly men and women aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Smoking Alcohol Physical activity Diet Body composition
Máchon et al.²⁰20 Machón M, Larrañaga I, Dorronsoro M, Vrotsou K, Vergara I. Health-related quality of life and associated factors in functionally independent older people. BMC Geriatr. 2017;17(19):1-9. (2017)	Spain 800 elderly persons aged over 65	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Smoking Social conviviality Physical activity Nutritional risk
Gouveia et al.²⁰20 Machón M, Larrañaga I, Dorronsoro M, Vrotsou K, Vergara I. Health-related quality of life and associated factors in functionally independent older people. BMC Geriatr. 2017;17(19):1-9. (2017)	Portugal 802 elderly men and women, distributed in two groups (60-69 and 70-79 years)	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Physical activity Body composition
Moreno-Vencino et al.²²22 Moreno-vecino B, Arija-Blázquez A, Pedrero-Chamizo R, Gómez-Cabello A, Alegre LM, Pérez-Lopez FR, et al. Sleep disturbance, obesity, physical fitness and quality of life in older women: EXERNET study group. Climacteric. 2017;20(1):72-9. (2017)	Spain 463 elderly women aged between 66 and 91 years	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Body composition
Camelo et al.²³23 Camelo LV, Giatti L, Barreto SM. Qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em idosos residentes em região de alta vulnerabilidade para saúde de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Rev Bras Epidemiol. 2016;19(2):280-93. (2016)	Brazil 366 elderly men and women aged between 60 and 94 years	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Social aspects Diet Level of physical activity Smoking
Cerin et al.¹²12 Cerin E, Sit CHP, Zhang CJP, Barnet A, Cheung MMC, Lai P, et al. Neighbourhood environment, physical activity, quality of life and depressive symptoms in Hong Kong older adults: a protocol for an observational study. BMJ Open. 2016;6(1):1-17. (2016)	China 900 elderly men and women aged over 65 years	Quantitative Longitudinal	Physical activity Neighborhood environment Social relations
Chatiziralli et al.⁹9 Chatziralli I, Mitropoulos P, Parikakis E, Niakas D, Labiris G. Risk factors for poor quality of life among patients with age-related macular degeneration. Sem Ophthalmol. 2016:1-9. (2016)	Greece 114 elderly men and women aged between 65 and 75 years diagnosed with muscular degeneration	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Smoking Alcohol consumption Physical exercises Walking
Dohrn et al.²⁴24 Dohrn I, Hagströmer M, Hellénius M, Ståhle A. Gait speed, quality of life, and sedentary time are associated with steps per day in community-dwelling older adults with osteoporosis. J Aging Phys Act. 2016;24(1):22-31. (2016)	Sweden 96 elderly men and women aged between 66 and 86 years with osteoporosis	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Physical activity Gait speed Duration of sedentarism
Marques et al.¹³13 Marques LP, Shineider IJC, Ursos E. Quality of life and its association with work, the Internet, participation in groups and physical activity among the elderly from the EpiFloripa survey, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. Cad Saúde Pública. 2016;32(12):1-11. (2016)	Brazil 1131 elderly men and women aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Employment Internet use Physical activity Religiosity Participation in religious groups or lifestyle
Naughton et al.⁴4 Naughton MJ, Brunner RL, Hogan PE, Danhauer SC, Brenes GA, Bower DJ, et al. Global quality of life among WHI women aged 80 years and older. J Gerontol Ser A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2016;71(1):72-8. (2016)	USA 26299 women aged 80 or over	Quantitative Longitudinal	Physical activity Body composition; Smoking
Pan et al.¹¹ (2016)	China 5557 elderly persons aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Tea-drinking Diet Smoking Alcohol consumption Open air activities
Aguero e Leiva et al.¹⁴14 Aguero SM, Leiva AV. Caracterización antropométrica, calidad y estilos de vida del anciano chileno octogenário. Nutr Hosp. 2015;31(6):2554-60. (2015)	Chile 271 elderly men and women aged between 80 and 90	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Dietary habits
Blair et al.²⁵25 Blair CK, Robien K, Inoue-Choi M, Rahn W, Lazovich D. Physical inactivity and risk of poor quality of life among elderly cancer survivors compared to women without cancer: the Iowa Women's Health Study. J Cancer Surv. 2016;10(1):103-12. (2015)	USA 1776 elderly women who had survived cancer and 12599 elderly women without cancer aged between 73 and 88 years	Quantitative Longitudinal	Physical activity Smoking Dietary habits Body composition
Harada et al.²⁶26 Harada K, Shibata A, Oka K, Nakamura Y. Association of muscle-strengthening activity with knee and low back pain, falls, and health-related quality of life among japanese older adults:a cross-sectional survey. J Aging Phys Act. 2015;23:1-8. (2015)	Japan 1351 elderly men and women aged between 65 and 74 years	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Physical activity
Meneguci et al.¹⁵ (2015)	Brazil 3206 elderly men and women aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Time seated
Duran et al.²⁷27 Duran S, Mattar P, Bravo N, Moreno C, Reyes S. Asociación entre calidad de vida y cantidad de sueño en adultos mayores de la Región Metropolitana y Región de Valparaíso, Chile. Rev Med Chile. 2014;142:1371-6. (2014)	Chile 975 elderly men and women aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Body composition
Freitas et al.²⁸28 Freitas CS, Meereis ECW, Gonçalves MP. Qualidade de vida de idosos ativos e insuficientemente ativos do município de Santa Maria (RS). Rev Kairós. 2014;17(1):57-68. (2014)	Brazil 60 elderly men and women (30 physically active and 30 physically inactive) aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Physical activity
Milla et al.¹⁷17 Milla PG, Johns PC, Aguero SD. Asociación del consumo de desayuno y la calidad de vida en adultos mayores autonomos chilenos. Nutr Hosp. 2014;30(4):845-50. (2014)	Chile 1285 elderly men and women aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Eats breakfast Body composition
Atkins et al.¹⁶16 Atkins J, Naismith SL, Luscombe JM, Hickie IB. Psychological distress and quality of life in older persons: relative contributions of fixed and modifiable risk factors. BMC Psychiatry. 2013;13:1-18. (2013)	Australia 626 elderly men and women aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Level of physical activity Open air activities Social relationship Consumption of alcohol Time seated
Silva et al.²⁹29 Silva MF, Goulart MBA, Lanferdini FJ, Marcon M, Dias CP. Relação entre os níveis de atividade física e qualidade de vida de idosos sedentários e fisicamente ativos. Rev Bras Geriatr Gerontol. 2012;15(4):635-42.(2012)	Brazil 50 elderly men and women aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Level of physical activity
Footit and Anderson ³⁰30 Footit J, Anderson D. Associations between perception of wellness and health-related quality of life, comorbidities, modifiable lifestyle factors and demographics in older Australians. Aust J Ageing. 2012;31(1):22-7. (2012)	Australia 328 elderly men and women aged over 65	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Diet; Physical activity Smoking Alcohol consumption Health Promotion
Guedes et al.³¹31 Guedes DP, Hattman AC, Martini FAN, Borges MB, Bernadelli R. Quality of life and physical activity in a sample of brazilian older adults. J Aging Health. 2012;24(2):212-26. (2012)	Brazil 1204 elderly men and women aged over 60	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Physical activity
Porto et al.³²32 Porto DB, Guedes DP, Fernandes RA, Reichert FF. Perceived quality of life and physical activity in Brazilian older adults. Motricidade. 2012;8(1):33-41. (2012)	Brazil 199 elderly men and women aged between 60 and 70 years	Quantitative Cross-sectional	Physical activity