Use of Senior Center and the Health-Related Quality of Life in Korean Older Adults

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between the use of senior center and health-related quality of life in Korean older adults. METHODS A questionnaire survey was conducted to two types of older adults who lived in Busan, Korea: 154 older adults who used a senior center and 137 older adults who did not use a senior center. The Korean version of short-form 36-item health survey was administered to assess the health-related quality of life. Demographic variables were obtained from a questionnaire. These were gender, age, family status, marital status, education, monthly income, present illness, body mass index and physical activity. RESULTS The 8-domain scales of physical function and role-physical were significantly higher in the users of the senior center compared with the non-users (F=4.87, p=0.027 and F=7.02, p=0.009, respectively). The 8-domain scales of vitality was also significantly higher in the users of the senior center compared with the non-users (F=7.48, p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS The present study showed that the users of the senior center have higher physical function, role-physical and vitality compared with the non-users. These findings suggest that although the results are unable to specify causal relationships using the senior center may lead to some improvement in health-related quality of life.