Effects of chronic comorbidity on psychological well-being among older persons in northern Peninsular Malaysia

• Main Authors: Momtaz, Yadollah Abolfathi, Tengku Abdul Hamid, Tengku Aizan, Yahaya, Nurizan, Ibrahim, Rahimah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2010
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14349/1/Effects%20of%20chronic%20comorbidity%20on%20psychological%20well-being%20among%20older%20persons%20in%20northern%20Peninsular%20Malaysia.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14349/; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11482-010-9098-2

Comorbidity is found to be more prevalent among older people and increases the need for health care. This study examined the effects of chronic comorbidity on psychological well-being of elderly people. A cross-sectional, descriptive study among Northern Malaysians was conducted, involving 385 older people aged 60 years and above randomly selected through multistage random sampling. All respondents completed a questionnaire booklet containing sociodemographic characteristics, self reported chronic morbidity, and WHO-5 Well-Being Index. Findings of this study demonstrated the prevalence and the mean morbidity were 77.7% and 1.62 (SD = 1.48), respectively. The mean score for the psychological well-being was 57.96 (SD = 22.97). Results of multiple regression analysis indicated psychological well-being is negatively affected by the number of concurrent chronic conditions. The results also showed that chronic comorbidity has the most negative effect on psychological well-being. Therefore, it is important to identify mediating factors and coping strategies that might improve psychological well-being of elderly people with coexisting morbid conditions.