Correlates of perceived autonomy among elders in a senior citizen home: a cross-sectional survey

Researchers have pointed out several factors that correlated with or influenced autonomy in older people. However, these studies covered only a range of socio-demographic or physical factors, while factors from psychosociological and spiritual domains remain ignored. Also, there is lack of quantitative research and publications in this area.

To explore factors related to autonomy among elders in a senior citizen home.

A cross-sectional design utilizing a correlational approach was adopted.

A stratified random sample of 121 subjects older than 64 years was recruited at a senior citizen home.

Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. The structured questionnaire consisted of five parts, each gauging socio-demographic information, life attitudes, frequency and satisfaction of social support, and autonomy. Descriptive and stepwise multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data.

Subjects had a high autonomy score (mean = 3.63), with the greatest score in independence (mean = 4.39), followed by individuality (mean = 3.74) and freedom (mean = 3.22). Multiple regression analysis showed that satisfaction of social support (beta = .57), functional ability (beta = .25), life attitudes (beta = .20), and level of education (beta = .14) significantly affected autonomy in these elderly subjects and explained 64.2% of the total variance of autonomy in this population.

Findings from this study indicate that perceived autonomy is influenced by social support, functional ability, life attitude, and literacy among institutionalized elders.