Do age, gender, and subjective health-related factors influence health-related life satisfaction in people with disabilities who are physically active?: a secondary analysis

• Published in: Women's health nursing (Seoul, Korea) Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 56 - 66
• Main Authors: Cho, Hyunseok, Ahn, Sukhee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Society of Women Health Nursing 01.03.2024; 한국여성건강간호학회
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Child; Child, Preschool; Exercise - psychology; Female; Health Status; Humans; Infant; Male; Middle Aged; Original; Personal Satisfaction; Persons with Disabilities - psychology; Quality of Life - psychology; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Self Concept; Sex Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; 간호학; Republic of Korea; Disabled persons; Exercise; Gender equity; Health; Age groups
• ISSN: 3022-7666; 3022-8247; 3022-8247
• DOI: 10.4069/whn.2024.03.18

Purpose: This study explored the factors influencing the health-related life satisfaction of people with disabilities who engaged in physical activity, by age and gender.Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted of the 2020 Third Disability and Life Dynamics Panel (2021). The participants were 2,796 people who performed regular physical activity at least once a week. The variables selected were disability-related factors (degree of disability, multiple disabilities, and type of disability), sociodemographic factors (age, gender, living alone, and mean monthly family income), and health-related factors (amount of physical activity, self-esteem, depression, chronic disease, subjective health, and health-related life satisfaction). Descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, the t-test, two-way analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis were conducted.Results: In total, 58.0% of participants were male, and 42.0% were female. For age groups, 14.4% were children/adolescents (0–19 years), 42.6% were adults (20–59 years), and 43.0% were seniors (≥60 years). The mean score for health-related life satisfaction was 5.0±2.15 out of 10. Adults and seniors whose level of physical activity met or exceeded recommendations had higher subjective health. Moreover, men had better subjective health than women in seniors. Health-related life satisfaction was higher among those who had higher self-esteem, were not depressed, did not have chronic diseases, and had better subjective health.Conclusion: Gender significantly influenced health-related life satisfaction in children/ adolescents and seniors. Disability-related factors were significant in adults, and health-related factors were significant in all age groups. Therefore, these factors should be considered when designing interventions to promote subjective health and health-related life satisfaction of people with disabilities.