Factors related to successful aging among community-dwelling elderly in Wenzhou, China

Abstract

Abstract Objectives: To examine the level of successful aging and the relationship between successful aging and activities of daily living (ADL), life satisfaction, social support, income, and self-efficacy among community-dwelling elderly in Wenzhou, China. Methods: A descriptive correlational design was applied. Subjects were community-dwelling elderly in 4 districts of Wenzhou, China. Simple random sampling was used to recruit 83 participants. All participants were screened using the Mini-Cog tool. Data were collected using 6 questionnaires such as a demographic questionnaire, the Successful Aging Inventory (SAI), the Barthel Index for ADL, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis. Results: The results showed that 53% of the participants had a higher level of successful aging and 43.4% had a moderate level of successful aging with a mean score of 56.76 (standard deviation [SD] = 12.31). Factors such as elderly income (r = 0.73, P < 0.001) and self-efficacy (r = 0.72, P < 0.001) had high correlations with successful aging, whereas ADL (r = 0.67, P < 0.001), life satisfaction (r = 0.63, P < 0.001), and social support (r = 0.36, P < 0.001) had moderate correlations with successful aging. Conclusions: There was a significant positive correlation between successful aging and ADL, life satisfaction, social support, income, and self-efficacy among community-dwelling elderly in Wenzhou, China. The findings may guide the formulation of more effective health education and intervention measures to improve successful aging among the elderly.