THE HEALTH-PROMOTING BEHAVIORS AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE ILOCANO OLDER ADULT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A CROSS-SECTIONAL CORRELATIONAL STUDY

S. Navasca¹, D. Lipardo²

¹University of Santo Tomas / Northwestern University, Graduate School / Physical Therapy, Manila, Philippines, ²University of Santo Tomas, Graduate School, Manila, Philippines

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of people across ages, with older adults identified as a vulnerable group. This vulnerability has been magnified by circumstantial indications of ageism emerging at different levels. Crucial at this point is the practice of healthy lifestyle behaviors to maintain functional independence and to improve the quality of life of these susceptible individuals.

Purpose: This study primarily aimed to examine the relationship of health-promoting behaviors (HPBs) to the quality of life (QOL) of older adults during the pandemic through an analytic cross-sectional study with a correlational design.

Methods: A total of 383 community-dwelling older adults from Ilocos Norte aged 60-93 y/o (M= 69.68, SD =7.13) without cognitive impairment, and can verbally communicate were recruited through stratified random sampling from February to March 2022. Data measures used were the Ilocano translated socio-demographic questionnaire, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle II(HPLP) for HPB, and the WHOQOLBREF for QOL. Reliability and validity testing were established. A Mini-Cog test was administered to validate subject inclusion. Data were obtained face-to-face. The SPSS v.28.0 was used for the descriptive and inferential analysis of study data. Outlier screening and distribution checking were done prior to data analysis. Tests of normality were conducted prior to the regression analysis.

Results: Ilocano older adults generally have a high level of HPBs (M= 2.91, SD 0.49) and an average perception of QOL (M=3.37, SD=0.46). However, the physical activity subscale was reported to be low. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the Scheffe post hoc test revealed statistically significant differences in the HPB scores when classified according to age, civil status, and educational attainment and a significant difference in the perceived QOL when classified according to their health status. The Pearson R correlation test revealed a positive correlation (r = .467, p < .01 level of significance) between HPBs and QOL. Multiple linear regression tests with a stepwise method revealed physical activity (β= .205, p=.001), nutrition (β= -.242, p=.001), and spiritual growth (β= .205, p=.008) influence the QOL of Ilocano older adults. They explained 25 % of the variance of QOL while other subscales of HPB explained 26 % of it (adjusted R^{2 =}.251, R²change=.263), significant at p­­<0.05. Moderation analysis showed age and health status to have an effect on the relationship between HPB and QOL with a p-value of .000 and .001 respectively.

Conclusions:​This study showed that HPBs are positively associated with the QOL of Ilocano older adults. Physical activity, nutrition, spiritual growth, age, and health status were found to influence the association. The practice of HPB must be encouraged with a focus on increased physical activity engagement, proper nutrition, and religious practices that foster spiritual growth for this identified vulnerable group.

Implications: These findingshave offered a lucid description of the current HPB practice and QOL perceptions of the Ilocano older adults and have posed the fundamental basis for possibly proposing health policy reforms and implementing health-promoting interventions that will lead to the lifelong well-being of the Ilocano older adult during the pandemic and are sustained after the health crisis.

Funding acknowledgements: This study received no external funding.

Keywords:
Health-promotion behaviors
Quality of life
Older adult

Topics:
Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity
COVID-19
Older people

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Northwestern University

Committee: NWU- Research Ethics Committee Board

Ethics number: 001G-2022