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Providing unpaid informal care to someone who is ill or disabled is a common experience in later life. While a supportive and potentially rewarding role, informal care can become a time and emotionally demanding activity, which may hinder older adults’ quality of life. In a context of rising demand for informal carers, we investigated how caregiving states and transitions are linked to overall levels and changes in quality of life, and how the relationship varies according to care intensity and burden. We used fixed effects and change analyses to examine six-wave panel data (2008–2018) from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH, n = 5076; ages 50–74). The CASP-19 scale is used to assess both positive and negative aspects of older adults’ quality of life. Caregiving was related with lower levels of quality of life in a graded manner, with those providing more weekly hours and reporting greater burden experiencing larger declines. Two-year transitions corresponding to starting, ceasing and continuing care provision were associated with lower levels of quality of life, compared to continuously not caregiving. Starting and ceasing caregiving were associated with negative and positive changes in quality of life score, respectively, suggesting that cessation of care leads to improvements despite persistent lower overall levels of quality of life. Measures to reduce care burden or time spent providing informal care are likely to improve the quality of life of older people.

Background: As life expectancy is increasing, the quality of life of older adults has become critical. Health status of older adults is a significant predictor of quality of life, making it essential to consider the diseases and conditions prevalent among this population. Although swallowing dysfunction is an emerging health problem, even in healthy older adults, few studies have examined the impact of these disorders on the quality of life. Therefore, in this pilot cross-sectional study, we aimed to examine the association between swallowing dysfunction and quality of life among 105 community-dwelling healthy older adults with no history of diseases that may cause swallowing dysfunction and who were screened normal on a dementia test. Methods: Quality of life was assessed using the CASP-19 scale. The risk of swallowing dysfunction was assessed using two screening tools, namely the Dysphagia Risk Assessment Scale and the Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test. The strength of the association between swallowing dysfunction and quality of life was analyzed using independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal–Wallis test, and multiple linear regression. Results: At least one in three participants had a high risk of swallowing dysfunction. The multiple linear regression model adjusted for several factors associated with the quality of life of older adults revealed that the high-risk group for swallowing dysfunction had a lower quality of life than the control group (β = −0.179 for Model 1; β = −0.201 for Model 2, p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study identified a potential association between swallowing dysfunction and lower quality of life. The findings suggest that maintaining or improving swallowing function may be a valuable component of strategies aimed at enhancing overall quality of life in healthy older adults.

This study aimed to create new classifications for occupations that have emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea, based on Reich’s classifications for the United States. We examined Korean workers’ occupational calling, psychological health, and quality of life. An online questionnaire was administered and data from 1029 Korean workers were analyzed. The questionnaire comprised the Korean version of the Multidimensional Calling Measure to assess occupational calling, the Psychosocial Well-being Index-short form for psychological health, and the Control, Autonomy, Self-realization, and Pleasure (CASP-19) scale for quality of life. We created a Korean-adapted version of the classes of occupation based on those created by the COVID-19 situation in the USA. Our results showed that Korean workers had a high perceived calling to work, and different classes showed different levels of quality of life and psychological health. We need a health concentration management system for essential groups or personal safety protection equipment should be provided. Education on infection control should be offered and effective medical system processes should be in place. We need to develop technology to respond to medical needs online, remotely, or telephonically. The government should implement policies to ensure job security and to improve wages and welfare.

While the association between health and quality of life (QoL) is well established, our understanding of the effect of inter-relationships and the wider social context is less well understood. Our aim was to examine the association between social capital, area-level deprivation, quality of relationships, and the control/autonomy domain of QoL. Data was from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a prospective nationally representative study of community-dwelling older adults in the Republic of Ireland. QoL was measured using CASP-19. Mixed effects linear regression models were estimated, stratified by urban rural location. QoL increased until around 68 years before decreasing into oldest age. Social cohesion was associated with the QoL of urban participants while social decay was important to the QoL of both urban and rural participants. Functional limitations, depressive symptoms and loneliness were also associated with poorer QoL. Social capital and the socio-economic environment influence QoL, independent of other factors. We show that the relationship between the social environment and QoL differs between rural and urban populations. While social decay was important in both settings, social cohesion was related to QoL among urban dwellers only and higher levels of area level deprivation was associated with lower QoL among rural residents.

This paper describes the conceptual development of a self-enumerated scale of quality of life (CASP-19) and presents an empirical evaluation of its structure using a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic approaches across three different survey settings for older people living in England and Wales in the new millennium. All evaluations are conducted using MPlus which allows the analyst to evaluate the properties of the scale for a set of multivariate categorical items which are subject to item non-response. CASP-19 is a subjective measure of well-being derived from an explicit theory of human need spanning four life domains: control, autonomy, self-realisation and pleasure. Put formally, CASP-19 is a self-reported summative index consisting of 19 Likert scale items. The three survey settings include a postal survey of 263 people in early old age followed up from childhood when the respondents were first interviewed in the 1930's, the first wave (2002) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA_1) and the eleventh wave of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS_11) also conducted in 2002. These nationally representative surveys consisted of 9300 and 6471 respondents aged 55 years and older. The Boyd-Orr sample provides an exploratory context for the evaluation and ELSA_1 together with BHPS_11 provide the opportunity for confirmatory analyses of three measurement models. There is some support for the use of CASP_19 as a stand alone summative index. However, the analysis reveals that a shortened 12-item scale which combines the life domains 'control and autonomy' in a second order measurement model is the recommended model for analysts. The work was funded under the UK's Economic and Social Research Council's Growing Older Programme and their Priority Network on Human Capability and Resilience. Grant Nos. L480254016 & L326253061.

This article aims to identify and analyse the lifecourse and contextual factors that influence the quality of life in early old age. We conceptualise quality of life as distinct from the factors which influence it, and employ a model of the quality of life that is derived from an explicit theory of human need. The operational measure (CASP-19) consists of 19 Likert-scaled items which cover four theoretical domains: control, autonomy, self-realisation and pleasure. A postal questionnaire was sent to 286 British people aged 65–75 years who were members of the sample for the 1930s Boyd-Orr study of health and diet and who had been followed up through retrospective interviews during the late 1990s. The 286 were broadly representative of their age group. The survey's response rate was 92 per cent. Respondents provided information on a number of contextual influences on their quality of life in early old age, notably social support and participation, the quality and quantity of social contact, feelings of trust and reciprocity about the local neighbourhood, health and financial security. In the analyses reported here, a series of conceptual and operational influences on quality of life in early old age is identified using block regression models. Finally, the relative impact of each predictor on CASP-19 is examined. The findings suggest that the legacy of the past tends to be best captured by people's feelings about the adequacy of their pensions and their status as owner-occupiers as well as a feeling that the area in which they live is deprived. The quality of the social contact people describe and how close they feel to those around them will ameliorate the negative impacts of the past and the immediate environment. In addition, we must recognise that people remain vulnerable to the impact of loss: recent bereavement, and major illnesses can impact on a person's quality of life.

We tested the hypothesis that the relationship between social class measured according to employment relations and conditions and quality of life in older people was due to the influence of social class on the perception individuals had about their place in a social hierarchy. We used the data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) in which both an occupation-based measure, the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) and a subjective measure of social status (SSS) were included. Quality of life was measured using a 19-item Likertscaled questionnaire (CASP-19). We found that even in the employed, SSS explained quality of life better than NS-SEC. The path analysis revealed that the effects of most NS-SEC categories on quality of life were fully mediated by SSS. The effect of SSS on quality of life was independent of advantageous occupational conditions, favourable life circumstances or mental health.

Aim The aim of this study is to explore the dimensionality of the CASP-19—a quality-of-life measure for early old age—and to assess the stability of the item locations over time and changes in person measures. Methods The Rasch partial credit model was applied to the CASP-19 data obtained from Waves 1 and 3 (N = 9,407 and N = 7,732) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing to assess item fit, dimensionality and differential item functioning (DIF). Results Five items demonstrated category disordering for the last two response categories of the CASP-19 (which were collapsed), and 4 items demonstrated item misfit and were removed from the analysis. Cronbach’s alpha indicated good internal consistency for both waves (0.87 for Wave 1 and 0.88 for Wave 3). There was no evidence of multidimensionality, and no significant DIF was observed for gender. When the two datasets were combined, no statistically significant differences were observed between the two sets of item locations. A statistically significant difference was found for the mean person measure [t(5,524) = 17.88, p < 0.001)], suggesting quality of life improves as people age. Conclusion A 15-item unidimensional factor structure was observed for the CASP-19, which was stable over time.

The increase in life expectancy at middle age has added quality of life to the policy concerns related to older ages. The present article asks whether this quality of life varies with socio-economic position. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (n.d.), the article answers this question in terms of the National Statistics Socio-Economie Classification and CASP-19, a measure of positive quality of life in early old age. Among all respondents aged 50 to 75 years, quality of life was found to be graded by social position, with the difference in quality of life between the higher managerial and professional group and the routine group being of comparable size to having a limiting long-standing illness; with the size of this difference varying between labour market sub-groups. The implication of these findings for ageing policy and for the National Statistics Socio-Economie Classification are discussed.

Como es sabido, el aumento de la esperanza de vida supone que más personas alcancen una edad en la que su salud física y mental se puede deteriorar. La vulnerabilidad de estas personas se manifiesta especialmente en la salud, y en la dificultad para satisfacer sus necesidades vitales. Estos hechos, junto al desarrollo del estado del bienestar, hacen necesario estudiar la calidad de vida de estas personas. Mediante algoritmos supervisados aplicados a la encuesta SHARE (The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), se identifican los factores principales que explican el bienestar de las personas que se declaran dependientes en Europa, interpretando los resultados mediante Shapley values. La aportación fundamental proviene del estudio de la relación entre el gasto sanitario y la calidad de vida recogida por el indicador CASP-19. Se aborda el problema desde una doble perspectiva, cualitativa y cuantitativa. No se puede establecer una relación entre la calidad de vida y los sistemas sanitarios europeos (Beveridge, Bismarck o mixto), la naturaleza de quienes suministren el servicio sanitario o el grado de centralización. Sin embargo, desde un punto de vista cuantitativo, se puede concluir que existe relación entre el nivel de gasto público en materia de sanidad y el nivel de bienestar percibido.