Comparing General Health of Active and Inactive Elderly Women in Qom

Introduction: One of the main goals of public health is reducing the disability-related age in elderly. On the one hand, older women especially in the low social and economic class, more experience chronic diseases and disabilities therefore, it is important to be identified women at risk in order to improve their health according to their needs. Since the concept of health in elderly depends on the concept of active and inactive elderly therefore, in this study general health had been compared in active and inactive elderly women in Qom, Iran, 2018. Methods: This analytical descriptive study was conducted by using cluster samplingon 100 elderly women in the city of Qom that 50 elderly people were active and 50elderly were inactive. Data were collected byusing four tools including: demographic questionnaire, Abbreviated Mental Test (AMTs) (To identify cognitive problems and remove samples), Instrumental Activity of Daily living (IADL) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ28). The research instrument was completed by asking of elders and analyzed in SPSS 22 using Independent T-Test. Results: In this study, there was significant difference between the active and inactive elderly women (P=0.004), the general health of active elderly women were better than inactive (active elderly women 32.24±9.22 and inactive 37.62±9.24).Also, the mean of anxiety, depression in inactive elderly was higher and there was a significant difference between the two groups (P <0.0001). However, there was no significant difference between the domains of physical signs and social functioning between the two groups. Conclusions: With increasing the elderly in country's population, it is necessary to pay more attention to keeping older women active and provide educational, counseling and welfare facilities for the elderly in order to ensure the health of the elderly in all aspects.