The differences at quality of life and loneliness between elderly people

The purpose of the present study was to examine the differences at quality of life and loneliness between elderly people. Data were collected from 180 persons aged 60 -93 years old from Greece. Quality life was estimated through the Quality of Life Index, loneliness through the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and demographic characteristics with a questionnaire. For quality of life, males had higher scores than females, older than oldest old and finally married than divorced and widows/ers respectively. Further, divorced had better quality of life than widows/ers, but with no significance. Concerning loneliness, males scored lower than females, older than oldest old and married than divorced and widows/ers respectively. Divorced had lower loneliness than widowers, but with no significance. The internal consistency of the Quality of Life Index subscales ranged from 0.749 to 0.881, whereas for the UCLA Loneliness Scale was 0.849. In conclusion, elderly perceptions about their conditions of living will guide practitioners to find out the real deficits on elder’s daily living and finally form suitable rehabilitation programmes.