Evaluation of an active focused intervention on the quality of life among elderly individuals in the slum areas of Thane district in India: An experimental field-based randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Care-giving to elderly population is challenging impacting their quality of life (QoL). We carried out the present study evaluating the influence of an intervention targeting this population in improving their QoL. A community-based randomized clinical trial was undertaken targeting the elderly population residing in an urban slum area after evaluating the baseline QoL using pre-validated questionnaire from World Health Organization (WHO QOL-BREF). Intervention involving mainly the interaction with elderly population in facilitating their interaction with the health care providers, and social clubs was carried out in the intervention group. Control group of participants was provided the usual standard of care without any active intervention.: Eight-hundred and fifty-two were included (study group: 426 and control group: 426) with a large-majority in the age range of 60-69 years. Most of the participants were educated, housewives, economically dependent on their family members, with a monthly income ranging between 5001 and 10000 rupees. The demographic characteristics were comparable between the intervention and control groups except for the concomitant diseases that were significantly more in the intervention group. Baseline mean WHO QOL-BREF scores were 40.04 and 45.2 in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Post-intervention, the QoL scores were significantly (p < 0.05) greater in the intervention group. Those between 60 and 69 years, male gender, those independant on their family members, and healthy individuals had significantly greater QoL scores post-intervention.We observed that our intervention had significant beneficial effects in improving the QoL among the elderly individuals residing in an urban slum area. We have also identified certain sub-groups of individuals with a greater response. There is an urgent need for evaluating the utility of our intervention using a randomized study.