Comparison of quality of life and mental health among elderly people in rural and suburban areas, Thailand.

This community based cross-sectional study design assessed the quality of life, mental and physical health among people aged > or = 60 years living in rural and suburban areas of northern Thailand. A cluster random sampling technique was used. The instruments used to assess quality of life were the Thai General Health Questionnaire (Thai-28), the WHO Quality of Life Assessment in Thai (WHOQOL-BREF-THAI), and a history and physical examination. The validity and reliability of the 2 written instruments (Thai-28 and WHOQOL-BREF-THAI) were detected and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.84 for the WHOQOL-BREF-THAI, and 0.94 for the Thai GHQ-28. The face-to face interview were conducted by trained interviewers. A chi-square test was used to determine significant differences at alpha = 0.05. Two hundred forty-seven subjects were recruited into the study, of which 225 were used for analysis. Forty-eight point five percent and 51.5% of subjects were from rural and semi-urban areas, respectively. Forty-five point three percent were males; the main age group was 70-79 years old (46.5%). The subjects from suburban areas had a higher quality of life in aspect to physical health (p = 0.011), mental health (p = 0.025), and social relationships (p = 0.012). Social relationships among females from difference areas were significantly different (p = 0.01). Subjects from rural areas had better mental health than those from suburban (p = 0.0001). Living in a suburban area had both positive and negative associations with quality of life that need to be further clarified to develop an elderly health care model for the community.