Physical health, access to health services and quality of life of older Thai adults working in fruit orchards

Abstract

Purpose: Improving people’s quality of life (QoL) has become a prominent policy goal. However, nothing is known about how QoL evolves as people age, especially for those working in fruit orchards. This study aims to determine the associations of physical health and access to health services with QoL, and the factors predicting the QoL of older Thai adults working in fruit orchards. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 255 adults aged 60–69 years recruited through stratified random sampling. Data were collected through questionnaires. The collected data were then analyzed using the Chi-square test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Findings: It was found that the study participants were generally physically healthy (36.5% at the “good” level and 56.5.5% at the moderate level) and generally had access to health services when they were most ill (78.2% at the “good” level and 21.8% at the moderate level). The overall QoL was good for 56.3% of the participants. The factors associated with and predicting the QoL of the participants were found to be social support, self-esteem and access to health services (p < 0.05), which were found to be capable of predicting the QoL of the participants with 35.1% accuracy. Originality/value: On the basis of this study’s findings, it is suggested that agencies providing care for older adults organize activities to promote the good health and self-esteem of older adults, obtain social support for them and provide them with convenient access to health-care facilities to improve their QoL.