The Relationship between Perceived Health Status, Activity of Daily Living, Coping Strategies, Religiosity, and Stress in the Elderly at a Public Nursing Home in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Background: The elderly are vulnerable to the impact of stress. Elderly people who are staying in a nursing homes may have many stressors. The study examined relationships between perceived health status, activity of daily living, coping strategies, religiosity, and stress in elderly staying in public nursing homes in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in July-September 2014.One hundred and seventy eight elderly were recruited by purposive sampling. The participants were completed a questionnaire by face-to-face interview.

Results: The study revealed that the median age of participants was 73 years old. The numbers of participants were female (65.73%) and male (34.26%). Most of the marital status for the participants was widowed (72.47%). The participants’ educational levels were not educated (40.44%), primary school (30.33%), secondary school (16.85%), and high school (12.35%). This study showed that perceived health status, and coping strategies had a significant negative relationship to stress (r= -.352, p<.01, r= -.209, p<.01, respectively), while activity of daily living showed a significantly positive relationship to stress (r= .244, p<.05). However, religiosity was not related to stress.

Conclusions: The study suggested that the elderly people who have higher perceived health status, higher social support, higher coping strategies, and independence in activity of daily living were more likely to have lower stress. Other factors which were not included in this study should be taken into consideration for further study related to stress in elderly staying in a public nursing home.