Mobility disability and life satisfaction in elderly people

The objective of this descriptive and analytical study is to examine mobility disability and life satisfaction in elderly people living in nursing home residences and analyze the relationship between them. The study was conducted over 78 elderly people in two nursing home residences. The data of this study were obtained through a personal information form (PIF), the River mead mobility index (RMI) and the life satisfaction scale (LSS). It was detected that life satisfaction levels of elderly people were average, a great majority of them went through mobility disability and there was a significant correlation between mobility and life satisfaction. It was established that in elderly people mobility was affected by the age, gender and chronic diseases while life satisfaction was related to age, education level and health perception level. Disability is a factor that has a significant effect on the life satisfaction of elderly people. The findings of this study will be useful for planning interventions to improve mobility and satisfaction with life among nursing home elders in Turkey. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.