Göteborg quality of life study of men born in 1913 and 1923--age, sex, job satisfaction and cardiovascular diseases.

Abstract

To see whether well-being and symptoms are affected by age, job satisfaction, and cardiovascular diseases a quality of life assessment of men born in 1913 and 1923 and living in Göteborg was performed. Age influenced both well-being and symptoms in different ways. Many well-being variables declined and many symptoms decreased with age. Symptoms were strongly related to both global health and job satisfaction--more symptoms were found in participants with low global health or low job satisfaction. Participants with cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus showed considerable variation in their quality of life. Hypertensive and diabetic patients showed only small deviations in the well-being and symptom profile. Congestive heart failure patients generally had a low quality of life. It was not possible to decide if the lack of well-being was caused by the diseased state, the treatment, or the patients' awareness of having a specific disease.