Assessment of Quality of Life Among the Widowed Elderly Using WHO-BREF Scale and its Social Determinants in the Indian State of Bihar

Abstract

Limited knowledge exists regarding the quality of life (QOL) among widowed elderly in developing countries like India, with a disproportionate focus on general elderly population in existing studies. This oversight results in neglecting the well-being of the widowed elderly, posing a serious public health concern due to the decline in their QOL. This study aims to assess the QOL and investigate the social determinants influencing the well-being of the widowed elderly. The study was conducted as a community-based cross-sectional study throughout 2021–22, the research recruited 201 widowed elderly aged 60 and above. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) version tool measured their QOL, and data analysis utilized Microsoft Excel for data entry and STATA version 16.0 for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics computed means, standard deviations, and frequencies, while inferential statistics employed t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and a multiple linear regression model to validate relationships among variables. The study revealed an overall QOL score of 42.0 ± 7.40, with scores of 38.6 ± 8.80 for the physical domain, 40.4 ± 8.80 for the psychological domain, 48.4 ± 17.70 for the social relationship domain, and 43.7 ± 10.0 for the environmental domain. Higher scores indicated a better QOL. The findings revealed that the overall QOL had a strong negative association with the age of the widowed elderly. Religion also had a significant negative association with the overall QOL. Conversely, educational status, caste, and wealth status were significantly positively associated with the overall QOL of the widowed elderly. With the advancement of age, the QOL deteriorates. Higher education, higher caste, and higher socioeconomic status of the study participants help them to live a better QOL. Among the social determinants of quality of life examined, age, educational status, caste, religion, and wealth status were found to be the most important factors affecting the QOL of the widowed elderly. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.