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Effects of Chronic Comorbidity on Psychological Well-being Among Older Persons in Northern Peninsular Malaysia

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

This study is a part of survey Patterns of social relationships and psychological well-being among older persons in peninsular Malaysia that was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Gerontology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz, Tengku Aizan Hamid & Nurizan Yahaya

  2. Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Rahimah Ibrahim

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  1. Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz
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  2. Tengku Aizan Hamid
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  3. Nurizan Yahaya
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  4. Rahimah Ibrahim
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Correspondence to Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz.

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Momtaz, Y.A., Hamid, T.A., Yahaya, N. et al. Effects of Chronic Comorbidity on Psychological Well-being Among Older Persons in Northern Peninsular Malaysia. Applied Research Quality Life 5, 133–146 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-010-9098-2

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