What's important in defining quality of life for older people? An exploratory study of the views of older South Australians

Background Cost-effectiveness analyses of interventions for older adults have traditionally focused on health status. There is increasing recognition of the need to develop new instruments to capture quality of life in a broader sense in the face of age-associated increasing frailty and declining health status, particularly in the economic evaluation of aged and social care interventions which may have positive benefits beyond health. Objective To explore the relative importance of health and broader quality of life domains for defining quality of life from the perspective of older South Australians. Methods Older adults (n=21) from a day rehabilitation facility in Southern Adelaide, South Australia attended one of two audio recorded focus groups. A mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) approach was adopted. The study included three main components. Firstly, a general group discussion on quality of life and the factors of importance in defining quality of life. Secondly, a structured ranking exercise in which individuals were asked to rank domains from the brief Older People’s Quality of Life questionnaire (OPQOL-brief) and Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) in order of importance. Thirdly, participants were asked to self-complete the Euroqol (EQ-5D) a measure of health status, and two broader quality of life measures: the OPQOL-brief and ASCOT. Results Mean scores on the EQ-5D, OPQOL-brief and ASCOT were 0.71 (SD 0.20, range 0.06-1.00), 54.6 (SD 5.5, range 38-61) and 0.87 (SD 0.13, range 0.59-1.00) respectively, with higher scores reflecting better ratings of QOL. EQ-5D scores were positively associated with OPQOL-brief (rho: .730, p<.01), but not ASCOT. Approximately half (52.4%) of the respondents ranked either “health” or “psychological and emotional well-being” as the domain most important to their quality of life. However, one-third (33.3%) of the total sample ranked a non-health domain from the ASCOT or OPQOL-brief (safety, dignity, independence) as the most important contributing factor to their overall quality of life. Qualitative analysis of focus group transcripts supported the high value of both health-related (health, psychological well-being) and social (independence, safety) domains to quality of life. Conclusions Older adults value both health and social domains as important to their overall quality of life. Future economic evaluations of health, community and aged-care services for older adults should include assessment of both healthrelated and broader aspects quality of life.