Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 1999 , Vol 2, Issue 4
QUALITY of LIFE ASSESSMENT in GERIATRICS
Şule ARSLAN, Yeşim GÖKÇE-KUTSAL
Hacettepe Ãœniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı – Ankara There are currently about 580 million people in the world aged 60 years and over, and this figure is expected to rise over 1000 million within the next 20 years. By 2020 approximately 70% of the elderly population will be living in developing countries. What is an extraordinary achievement for this century will be one of the great challenges for the next: ensuring the quality of life of an elderly population. Quality of life measures have assumed increasing importance in the field of rehabilitation and in the medical literature in the last decades. Quality of life is a generic term covering a wide variety of domains. it generally refers to a multitude of subjective experiences important to people's lives. Four domains contribute to this overall effect; physical and occupational function, psychological state, social interaction and economic status. it is generally agreed that a) it is a multidimensional concept; b)that it includes measures of physical function, psychological state, social interaction and somatic sensation; c) the choice of criteria used is influenced by the severity and nature of the disease and d) that it is an important part of evaluation of therapy and health care overall. Quality of life has emerged as an important outcome measure of optimal medical care, particularly for the treatment of chronic conditions. Keywords : Quality of life, Elderly, Health assessment, Chronic diseases