ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1587104
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrated Strategies for Lifelong Health: Multidimensional Approaches to Aging and Lifestyle InterventionsView all 21 articles
The Impact of Life Events on Health-Related Quality of Life in Rural Elderly: The Moderating Role of Social Support
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chongqing Three Gorges Medical College, Chongqing, China
- 2Chongqing Energy Industry Technician College, Chongqing, China, Chongqing, China
- 3Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing, China
- 4Dianjiang County General Hospital, Chongqing, China
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Background: Global aging is one of the most significant social trends of the 21st century. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is an important indicator not only for evaluating the effectiveness of medical interventions, public health policies, and disease management, but also for enhancing the health of the elderly. This study aimed to explore the mechanisms through which life events and social support affect the HRQoL of rural elderly, with the aim of promoting healthier aging in this population.Methods: A stratified random sampling method was used to select rural elderly individuals from southeastern Henan Province, China. Data were collected using the Life Events Scale, the Social Support Scale (SSS), and the SF-8 Health Survey. T test and the analysis of variance were employed to compare characteristics differences in HRQoL. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to assess the relationships between life events, social support, and HRQoL. And a regression test was used for Moderating Effect analysis.The participants in this questionnaire survey showed that Univariate analysis revealed statistically significant associations between age, education, chronic disease in HRQoL among the rural elderly. Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant negative correlations not only between life events and social support, but also between life events and HRQoL, while a significant positive correlation was found between social support and HRQoL. Regression analysis for moderating effects showed that life events negatively predicted HRQoL, while social support positively predicted HRQoL. The interaction term of the product life events and social support was also significant.Our results confirm that life events and social support were significant predictors of the HRQOL among rural elderly, with social support acting as a moderating variable, and provide empirical evidence that enhancing social support systems and reducing negative life events are crucial for improving the health-related quality of life in rural elderly populations and achieving healthy aging.
Keywords: health-related quality of life, life events, social support, Moderating effect, Elderly
Received: 03 Mar 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Li, Tang, Chen, Yu, Li, Peng and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Li Peng, Chongqing Three Gorges Medical College, Chongqing, China
Daikun Zheng, Chongqing Three Gorges Medical College, Chongqing, China
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