Relationship between Basic Psychological Needs and Quality of Life of the Elderly in Isfahan

• Published in: Taḥqīqāt-i ʻulūm-i raftārī Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 107 - 115
• Main Authors: Narges Motamedi, Ataollah Eskandari
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Persian
• Published: Armaqan Danesh Firoozeh 01-03-2021
• Subjects: basic psychological needs; elderly; quality of life
• ISSN: 1735-2029; 2008-8248

Aim and Background: Considering the increasing trend of aging in Iran and the importance of appropriate quality of life in elderlies, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and quality of life in the elderly in Isfahan. Methods and Materials: This study is a cross-sectional study performed on 214 elderly in 2020. In this study, the data were analyzed based on the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Questionnaire (Desi and Ryan 2000), which includes three dimensions: the need for competence, the need for autonomy, and the need for communication. The SF12 quality of life questionnaire was also used in two dimensions of physical health and mental health. Data were collected in spss24 and analyzed by T_TEST, ANOVA and linear regression tests. Findings: The results of the current study showed that, the need for competence have an ability to predict the changes in quality of life in the physical dimension (β = 0.183, p = 0.020), the psychological dimension (β = 0.366, p = 0.001) and predict and changes in the total quality of life (β = 0.319, p = 0.001). Communication and autonomy needs satisfaction did not independently play a predictive role in quality of life. Conclusions: the basic psychological need satisfaction in the competence dimension predicts a better quality of life in both the physical and psychological dimensions of the elderly. Therefore, by giving responsibility and defining effective roles for the elderly in order to meet the need for competence, steps can be taken to increase their quality of life.