Journal
CLINICAL INTERVENTIONS IN AGING
Volume 15, Issue -, Pages 1481-1491Publisher
DOVE MEDICAL PRESS LTD
DOI: 10.2147/CIA.S260635
Keywords
sense of coherence; SOC; self-perception of aging; depression; socio-demographic factors; University of the Third Age; U3A
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Funding
- Department of Social and Medical Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz [976/2014-2020]
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Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between the sense of coherence and self-perception of aging and the risk of depression among attendees of the University of the Third Age (U3A). The influence of socio-demographic factors was studied. Participants and Methods: The study involved 315 attendees of the U3A aged on average 68.4 years, age range 60-82 years old. The overwhelming majority were women (91.7%). Cross-sectional research was conducted using standardized questionnaires - the SOC-29 scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS - brief version) and the author's own questionnaire regarding self-perception of aging. Results: The study participants showed an average level of sense of coherence (130.7 +/- 23.2). The highest number of people obtained average results of sense of coherence, both in terms of global SOC (75.2%) and its components. The highest scores on the SOC-29 scale were found for the sense of comprehensibility (41.3%). The mean value of the self-perception of aging was 69.0 +/- 16.0 and indicates the lower range of results for positive attitude. Nearly 3/4 (72.1%) of the respondents had a positive self-perception of aging. The values of the scale of self-perception of aging showed a statistically significant relation to the global level of sense of coherence and its components (p<0.001). In people without depression, positive self-perception of aging was significantly more frequent than among participants with depression of increasing intensity. Education was significantly correlated with the results of the SOC-29 scale, the self-perception of aging scale and the GDS scale. Conclusion: From the U3A research group, better educated elderly people have a higher sense of coherence and show a more positive self-perception of aging. Moreover, these people are less likely to show signs of senile depression.
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