title: Determinants of Quality of Life in Ageing Populations: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study in Finland, Poland and Spain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To comprehensively identify the determinants of quality of life (QoL) in a population study sample of persons aged 18-50 and 50+.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this observational, cross-sectional study, QoL was measured with the WHOQOL-AGE, a brief instrument designed to measure QoL in older adults. Eight hierarchical regression models were performed to identify determinants of QoL. Variables were entered in the following order: Sociodemographic; Health Habits; Chronic Conditions; Health State description; Vision and Hearing; Social Networks; Built Environment. In the final model, significant variables were retained. The final model was re-run using data from the three countries separately.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Complete data were available for 5639 participants, mean age 46.3 (SD 18.4). The final model accounted for 45% of QoL variation and the most relevant contribution was given by sociodemographic data (particularly age, education level and living in Finland: 17.9% explained QoL variation), chronic conditions (particularly depression: 4.6%) and a wide and rich social network (4.6%). Other determinants were presence of disabling pain, learning difficulties and visual problems, and living in usable house that is perceived as non-risky. Some variables were specifically associated to QoL in single countries: age in Poland, alcohol consumption in Spain, angina in Finland, depression in Spain, and self-reported sadness both in Finland and Poland, but not in Spain. Other were commonly associated to QoL: smoking status, bodily aches, being emotionally affected by health problems, good social network and home characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results highlight the importance of modifiable determinants of QoL, and provide public health indications that could support concrete actions at country level. In particular, smoking cessation, increasing the level of physical activity, improving social network ties and applying universal design approach to houses and environmental infrastructures could potentially increase QoL of ageing population.
authors.affiliation: Neurological Institute C. Besta IRCCS Foundation, Neurology, Public Health and Disability Unit, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7433-7779
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raggi
authors.affiliation: National Council Research, Neuroscience Institute, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Corso
authors.affiliation: National Council Research, Neuroscience Institute, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minicuci
authors.affiliation: Neurological Institute C. Besta IRCCS Foundation, Neurology, Public Health and Disability Unit, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quintas
authors.affiliation: Neurological Institute C. Besta IRCCS Foundation, Neurology, Public Health and Disability Unit, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sattin
authors.affiliation: Neurological Institute C. Besta IRCCS Foundation, Neurology, Public Health and Disability Unit, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Torres
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, Information, Evidence and Research Unit, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Somnath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chatterji
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio-Fatebenefratelli, Laboratory of Alzheimer's Neuroimaging and Epidemiology, Brescia, Italy.|Memory Clinic and LANVIE, University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Giovanni Battista
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Frisoni
authors.affiliation: Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain.|Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haro
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Population Health Research Unit, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koskinen
authors.affiliation: E. Medea Scientific Institute, Conegliano-Pieve di Soligo Research Centre, Conegliano Veneto, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martinuzzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.|Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain.|Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Princesa (IP), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miret
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sociology, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tobiasz-Adamczyk
authors.affiliation: Neurological Institute C. Besta IRCCS Foundation, Neurology, Public Health and Disability Unit, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Matilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leonardi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D011788:Quality of Life; D057566:Self Report; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires