Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30849098›Full record

ReviewPloS one2019

What does quality of life mean to older adults? A thematic synthesis.

Karen M van Leeuwen, Miriam S van Loon, Fenna A van Nes, Judith E Bosmans, Henrica C W de Vet, Johannes C F Ket, Guy A M Widdershoven, Raymond W J G Ostelo

Registry-linked trialAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07136168 (Healthy Ageing - an Interdisciplinary Randomised Study of Health Dialogues in Primary Care), which is not on this map. Cited by 142 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
142citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07136168 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Healthy Ageing - an Interdisciplinary Randomised Study of Health Dialogues in Primary Care

TypeinterventionalSponsorLinkoeping UniversityRan2025 to 2031Enrolled2,952ConditionsFrailty, Ageing Well, Prevention Intervention, Health Related Quality of LifeArmsHealth dialogue
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

142 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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82 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Karen M van LeeuwenDepartment of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-9002-5049
Miriam S van LoonDepartment of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Fenna A van NesACHIEVE Centre of Applied Research, Faculty of Health, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Judith E BosmansDepartment of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Henrica C W de VetDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-5454-2804
Johannes C F KetMedical Library, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Guy A M WiddershovenDepartment of Medical Humanities, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Raymond W J G OsteloDepartment of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundConsideration of older adults' quality of life (QoL) is becoming increasingly important in the evaluation, quality improvement and allocation of health and social care services. While numerous definitions and theories of QoL have been proposed, an overall synthesis of the perspective of older adults themselves is lacking.

methodsQualitative studies were identified in PubMed, Ebsco/Psycinfo and Ebsco/CINAHL, through a search on 28 November 2018. Articles needed to meet all of the following criteria: (i) focus on perceptions of QoL, (ii) older adults living at home as main participants, (iii) use of qualitative methodology, (iv) conducted in a Western country and (v) published in English (vi) not focused on specific patient groups. A thematic synthesis was conducted of the selected studies, using the complete 'findings/results' sections from the papers.

resultsWe included 48 qualitative studies representing the views of more than 3,400 older adults living at home in 11 Western countries. The QoL aspects identified in the synthesis were categorized into nine QoL domains: autonomy, role and activity, health perception, relationships, attitude and adaptation, emotional comfort, spirituality, home and neighbourhood, and financial security. The results showed that although different domains can be distinguished, these are also strongly connected.

conclusionQoL can be expressed in a number of domains and related subthemes that are important for older adults living at home. The findings further support that the concept of QoL should be seen as a dynamic web of intertwined domains.

Indexed as

Quality of LifeAdaptation, PsychologicalAgedAttitude to HealthDatabases, FactualHumansSpirituality

Identifiers

PMID30849098
PMCPMC6407786

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.