Quality of life perceived in elderlies from Matanzas province

INTRODUCTION: quality of life study is very useful in aging populations, since it is a qualitative marker of health in this segment of population, frequently affected by disabling events limiting its social performance. OBJECTIVE: to describe quality of life behavior in general, and its relation with selected variables in elderlies from Matanzas province. METHODS: a cross-sectional and descriptive study was made in a cohort of 108 559 elderlies, from which we selected a sample of 741 by multistage stratified sampling. We applied the minimum Examination of Mental State and the Scale for Assessment of Perceived Quality of Life. Absolute frequencies and percentages were estimated, and Homogeneity Test was applied as well as another specific including Bartholomew, Ridit Analysis and X for regression. Processing was performed with the SPSS version 11,5 and Epidat 3.1. Results are presented in tables. RESULTS: there was a predominance of low perceived quality of life being the 43,3 % of study sample. There were significant differences in quality of life behavior by age and schooling with a trend to deterioration in so far as age increases (p=0,000), and decrease the schooling (p=0,000). There were not differences neither by sex (p= 0,343) nor by marital state (p=0,123). CONCLUSIONS: predominance of a poor quality of life in study population shows the need of to continue the study on this basis, where its relation with age and schooling in interesting.