Factors associated with Meaning in Life among Elderly Female Community Dwellers Living Alone

Si Eun Lee; Boon Han Kim

doi:10.12799/jkachn.2016.27.3.221

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Original Article
Factors associated with Meaning in Life among Elderly Female Community Dwellers Living Alone: Si Eun Lee, Boon Han Kim; Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing 2016;27(3):221-230.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2016.27.3.221
Published online: September 30, 2016

College of Nursing, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.

• Received: June 5, 2016 • Revised: August 31, 2016 • Accepted: September 3, 2016

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Abstract

Abstract

Purpose
This study was conducted to examine the factors associated with meaning in life among elderly female community dwellers aged 65 or older who were living alone.
Methods
A quota sample of 222 elderly female living alone was recruited. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Welch's test, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression using the SPSS 22.0 program.
Results
The factors associated with meaning in life included age, education level, perceived economic status, perceived health status, social support, and loneliness. This regression model explained 66% of the variance in meaning in life.
Conclusion
Based on the results, comprehensive nursing intervention programs for enhancing meaning in life are required.
Key Words: Aged; Life; Loneliness; Social support; Female

Table 1

General Characteristics of Participants and Meaning in Life according to General Characteristics (N=222)

Characteristics	Categories	n (%) or M±SD	Meaning in life
Characteristics	Categories	n (%) or M±SD	M±SD	t or F	p
Age (year) (range: 66~97)	Total	79.72±6.30		10.95^‡ a>b, c^§	<.001
	65~74^a	50 (22.5)	45.02±14.55
	75~84^b	122 (55.0)	36.80±12.16
	≥85^c	50 (22.5)	33.30±13.65
Education level	No formal^a	78 (35.1)	28.94±10.37	42.35 a<b<c^†	<.001
	Elementary school graduate^b	94 (42.3)	40.06±12.03
	≥Middle school graduate^c	50 (22.6)	47.66±12.71
Solitary cause	Bereavement	194 (87.4)	37.88±13.74	1.71	.184
	Divorced/separated	22 (9.9)	35.27±11.19
	Single	6 (2.7)	46.83±16.80
Religion	Yes	158 (71.2)	39.26±13.69	2.42	.016
Religion	No	64 (28.8)	34.42±13.00	2.42	.016
Perceived economic status (range: 1~3)	Total	2.07±0.84		40.75 a>b>c^†	<.001
	Good^a	7 (3.2)	61.29±5.41
	Moderate^b	64 (28.8)	45.98±11.47
	Poor^c	151 (68.0)	33.34±11.98
Socioeconomic status	Low-income	68 (30.6)	31.49±12.96	4.86	<.001
Socioeconomic status	General	154 (69.4)	40.68±13.01	4.86	<.001
Number of chronic diseases (range: 0~4)	Total	1.80±0.90		-2.55	.012
	0~1	84 (37.8)	40.96±15.07
	≥2	138 (62.2)	35.98±12.37
Medications	Yes	198 (89.2)	37.43±13.60	1.35	.177
Medications	No	24 (10.8)	41.42±13.72	1.35	.177

^†Scheffé post hoc test; ^‡Welch analysis of variance; ^§Games-Howell post hoc test.

Table 2

Descriptive Statistics of Measured Variables (N=222)

Categories	Variables	M±SD	Possible range	Actual range
Physical factors	Perceived health status	2.42±0.91	1~5	1~5
Physical factors	IADL	11.26±1.83	10~33	10~17
Social factor	Social support	37.35±7.88	12~60	16~52
Psychological factor	Loneliness	46.75±11.86	20~80	23~77
Spiritual factor	Meaning in life	37.86±13.64	10~70	12~70

IADL=instrumental activities of daily living.

Table 3

Correlations between Measured Variables (N=222)

Variables	1	2^†	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Variables	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)
1. Age	1
2. Education level^†	-.43 (<.001)	1
3. Perceived economic status	-.25 (<.001)	.54 (<.001)	1
4. Number of chronic diseases	.25 (<.001)	-.17 (.014)	-.15 (.025)	1
5. Perceived health status	-.24 (<.001)	.32 (<.001)	.41 (<.001)	-.48 (<.001)	1
6. IADL	.40 (<.001)	-.46 (<.001)	-.30 (<.001)	.23 (.001)	-.43 (<.001)	1
7. Social support	-.16 (.019)	.31 (<.001)	.49 (<.001)	-.19 (.004)	.38 (<.001)	-.33 (<.001)	1
8. Loneliness	.14(.038)	-.38 (<.001)	-.51 (<.001)	.20 (.002)	-.45 (<.001)	.39 (<.001)	-.62 (<.001)	1
9. Meaning in life	-.35 (<.001)	.51 (<.001)	.59 (<.001)	-.21 (.002)	.48 (<.001)	-.44 (<.001)	.57 (<.001)	-.72 (<.001)	1

IADL=instrumental activities of daily living; ^†Spearman correlation coefficients.

Table 4

Factors associated with Meaning in Life (N=222)

Variables	B	SE	β	t	p
(Constant)	79.77	10.16		7.85	<.001
Age	-0.39	0.10	-.18	-3.76	<.001
Education level^†	-3.38	1.51	-.10	-2.23	.027
Religion^‡	-1.08	1.27	-.04	-0.85	.395
Perceived economic status	2.89	0.92	.18	3.15	.002
Socioeconomic status^§	1.69	1.39	.06	1.22	.226
Number of chronic diseases	0.63	0.71	.04	0.90	.371
Perceived health status	1.81	0.80	.12	2.25	.026
IADL	-0.17	0.38	-.02	-0.45	.652
Social support	0.19	0.09	.11	2.04	.043
Loneliness	-0.55	0.07	-.47	-8.17	<.001
	R²=.66, Adjusted R²=.64, F=41.01, p<.001

IADL=instrumental activities of daily living; ^†Dummy variable (0: ≥middle school, 1: ≤elementary school); ^‡Dummy variable (0: yes, 1: no); ^§Dummy variable (0: general, 1: low-income).

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Factors associated with Meaning in Life among Elderly Female Community Dwellers Living Alone

Characteristics	Categories	n (%) or M±SD	Meaning in life
Characteristics	Categories	n (%) or M±SD	M±SD	t or F	p
Age (year) (range: 66~97)	Total	79.72±6.30		10.95^‡ a>b, c^§	<.001
	65~74^a	50 (22.5)	45.02±14.55
	75~84^b	122 (55.0)	36.80±12.16
	≥85^c	50 (22.5)	33.30±13.65
Education level	No formal^a	78 (35.1)	28.94±10.37	42.35 a<b<c^†	<.001
	Elementary school graduate^b	94 (42.3)	40.06±12.03
	≥Middle school graduate^c	50 (22.6)	47.66±12.71
Solitary cause	Bereavement	194 (87.4)	37.88±13.74	1.71	.184
	Divorced/separated	22 (9.9)	35.27±11.19
	Single	6 (2.7)	46.83±16.80
Religion	Yes	158 (71.2)	39.26±13.69	2.42	.016
Religion	No	64 (28.8)	34.42±13.00	2.42	.016
Perceived economic status (range: 1~3)	Total	2.07±0.84		40.75 a>b>c^†	<.001
	Good^a	7 (3.2)	61.29±5.41
	Moderate^b	64 (28.8)	45.98±11.47
	Poor^c	151 (68.0)	33.34±11.98
Socioeconomic status	Low-income	68 (30.6)	31.49±12.96	4.86	<.001
Socioeconomic status	General	154 (69.4)	40.68±13.01	4.86	<.001
Number of chronic diseases (range: 0~4)	Total	1.80±0.90		-2.55	.012
	0~1	84 (37.8)	40.96±15.07
	≥2	138 (62.2)	35.98±12.37
Medications	Yes	198 (89.2)	37.43±13.60	1.35	.177
Medications	No	24 (10.8)	41.42±13.72	1.35	.177

Categories	Variables	M±SD	Possible range	Actual range
Physical factors	Perceived health status	2.42±0.91	1~5	1~5
Physical factors	IADL	11.26±1.83	10~33	10~17
Social factor	Social support	37.35±7.88	12~60	16~52
Psychological factor	Loneliness	46.75±11.86	20~80	23~77
Spiritual factor	Meaning in life	37.86±13.64	10~70	12~70

Variables	1	2^†	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Variables	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)
1. Age	1
2. Education level^†	-.43 (<.001)	1
3. Perceived economic status	-.25 (<.001)	.54 (<.001)	1
4. Number of chronic diseases	.25 (<.001)	-.17 (.014)	-.15 (.025)	1
5. Perceived health status	-.24 (<.001)	.32 (<.001)	.41 (<.001)	-.48 (<.001)	1
6. IADL	.40 (<.001)	-.46 (<.001)	-.30 (<.001)	.23 (.001)	-.43 (<.001)	1
7. Social support	-.16 (.019)	.31 (<.001)	.49 (<.001)	-.19 (.004)	.38 (<.001)	-.33 (<.001)	1
8. Loneliness	.14(.038)	-.38 (<.001)	-.51 (<.001)	.20 (.002)	-.45 (<.001)	.39 (<.001)	-.62 (<.001)	1
9. Meaning in life	-.35 (<.001)	.51 (<.001)	.59 (<.001)	-.21 (.002)	.48 (<.001)	-.44 (<.001)	.57 (<.001)	-.72 (<.001)	1

Variables	B	SE	β	t	p
(Constant)	79.77	10.16		7.85	<.001
Age	-0.39	0.10	-.18	-3.76	<.001
Education level^†	-3.38	1.51	-.10	-2.23	.027
Religion^‡	-1.08	1.27	-.04	-0.85	.395
Perceived economic status	2.89	0.92	.18	3.15	.002
Socioeconomic status^§	1.69	1.39	.06	1.22	.226
Number of chronic diseases	0.63	0.71	.04	0.90	.371
Perceived health status	1.81	0.80	.12	2.25	.026
IADL	-0.17	0.38	-.02	-0.45	.652
Social support	0.19	0.09	.11	2.04	.043
Loneliness	-0.55	0.07	-.47	-8.17	<.001
	R²=.66, Adjusted R²=.64, F=41.01, p<.001

Table 1 General Characteristics of Participants and Meaning in Life according to General Characteristics (N=222)

^†Scheffé post hoc test; ^‡Welch analysis of variance; ^§Games-Howell post hoc test.

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of Measured Variables (N=222)

IADL=instrumental activities of daily living.

Table 3 Correlations between Measured Variables (N=222)

IADL=instrumental activities of daily living; ^†Spearman correlation coefficients.

Table 4 Factors associated with Meaning in Life (N=222)

IADL=instrumental activities of daily living; ^†Dummy variable (0: ≥middle school, 1: ≤elementary school); ^‡Dummy variable (0: yes, 1: no); ^§Dummy variable (0: general, 1: low-income).