Abstract:
Background: Persistent suffering in anxiety can cause various health problems in old
age and impairment of quality of life (QOL).
Objectives: The objectives of this study are to assess the pattern of covert and
overt anxiety among elderly population, to study the nature of relationship between
the pattern of anxiety and domains of World Health Organization‑QOL (WHO‑QOL)
among elderly population, to study the gender difference on the pattern of anxiety and
WHO‑QOL among elderly population.
Materials and Methods: An exploratory cross‑sectional survey under a health
camp approach was conducted by using two types of questionnaire, i.e., Institute for
Personality and Ability Testing self‑analysis questionnaire and WHOQOL‑BREF.
Results: The gender wise comparative profile of covert and overt anxiety with total,
standard, and sten score shows that covert anxiety is higher in male in different
background characteristics, except male group educated between 5th and 12th standard
showing higher overt anxiety, whereas female group shows higher overt anxiety in
different background characteristics. Spearman’s rank correlation shows that overt
anxiety has an inverse relation with domain‑1 in both sexes, a negative relationship
is found between domain‑2 of WHO‑QOL and the covert and overt anxiety among
female, a significant negative relationship in domain‑3 of WHO‑QOL with covert and
overt anxiety among male, and also a significant negative association between the
domain‑4 of WHO‑QOL and overt anxiety in female.
Conclusion: The functional ability of both male and female elderly on various domains is related and influenced by the pattern of anxiety.
