ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN THE OLDEST-OLDS LIVING IN NURSING-HOMES AND AT HOME

The aim of the study was to assess any differences in perception of qu ality of life in oldest-old subjects living in nursing homes and at ho me. The elderly people staying in the Nursing Home for the Elderly of Padova or at home were interviewed, after a recruitment at recreationa l centers for the aged from the same town. Twenty-nine oldest-old peop le resident in nursing homes (mean age 95.0 +/- 6.42 years) and 37 old est-old people resident at home (mean age 95.8 +/- 7.4) were included in the study. The data were collected through administration of two qu estionnaires designed to assess quality of life in the elderly (PEQOL and LEIPAD). The two groups of subjects produced overlapping scores in all comparable scales in the two questionnaires on the quality of lif e, except for the LEIPAD self care scale, corresponding to PEQOL's ADL and IADL scales, for which there are statistically significant differ ences between institutionalized subjects and those living at home. On the LEIPAD self care scale, institutionalized subjects report greater impairment of self-sufficiency (p < 0.03), as confirmed by the scores obtained on the corresponding ADL and IADL scales of the PEQOL (p < 0. 05 and p < 0.001). Although institutionalized oldest-olds are less sel f-sufficient than those who live at home, no other differences emerge between the two groups in the other areas concerning perception of qua lity of rife explored by both questionnaires (physical health, cogniti ve functions, depression and anxiety, sexual functioning, social funct ioning and religiousness). Unlike the findings reported in a previous study on less old people (mean age 77 years), over 85-year-olds living in rest homes and at own home appeared to perceive quality of life in a similar way. This may be attributable to greater adjustment over ti me, with place of residence assuming less importance, provided that th e oldest-olds feel equally supported by reference figures, who need no t necessarily be members of the family.