María del Pilar Escobar Potes

Quality of life and informal labor among elderly persons in an intermediate Colombian city, 2012-2013

Objective: Describe the quality of life of elderly informal workers in an intermediate Colombian city. Method: A descriptive study of 320 randomly selected informal workers aged older than 18 from Manizales was performed. A sub-sample of 153 people aged older than 50, representing 47.8 percent of the study population, was performed. Two instruments were applied: one testing demographic variables and the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life questionnaire. Univariate and bivariate analyzes were performed using frequency distributions and the chi-squared test was used to identify association between variables. Results: 69.9% of the participants were men, the average age was 59.4 (+7.2) years, 62.0% had no or basic education, 52.0% belonged to social class 1 and 2; 6.5% had no affiliation with the health and social security system. The different dimensions of quality of life were perceived favorably, as was health. More than 50.0% were autonomous, had strong social and family networks, had not experienced negative feelings and found meaning to life. Statistical differences (p<0.05) by gender and age were found for environment, sex life, daily living skills, and satisfaction with work capacity. Conclusion: The quality of life of older informal workers is well perceived and is related to a positive assessment of health. From the perspective of human development, work gives meaning to the lives of older people and encourages active, healthy and productive aging.