Life events and the quality of life in old age. Report from a medical-social intervention study

In a board medical-social intervention study in Sweden regarding the possibility of postponing/preventing age-related dysfunction, changes in the subjective evaluation of quality of life (QL) and the experience of major life events (LE) were recorded in the age interval 70-76 years. Significantly more negative than positive LE were reported, and the most common was related to disease and death in the family. Children's divorce was rated as the most serious negative LE; the most common positive LE were travel and birth of a grandchild, but recovery from disease was ranked highest. Despite the predominance of negative LE, QL scores improved both in a representative population sample that was given support in the form of a medical-social intervention for 2 years, and in a control sample that underwent the identical systematical health surveys but received no further active help. As the study did not demonstrate any differences in outcome measurement (QL) between the supported subjects and the controls, it was not possible to discern whether the retained well-being could be attributed the intervention as was hypothesized.