RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A systematic search was conducted in 4 electronic databases (Ovid Medline, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and Web of Science). Studies conducted in English and including measures on the perception of aging and quality of life were included in this review. A total of 32 observational studies (21 cross-sectional, 8 longitudinal, 2 mixed-method, and 1 qualitative) met the inclusion criteria. Outcomes reported in the included studies were quality of life, physical health and functioning, psychological health, mental health, and general well-being.
RESULTS: Overall, 20 quantitative studies indicated a strong association between positive perception of aging and increased quality of life. Similarly, 9 quantitative studies demonstrated that negative perception of aging is associated with lower quality of life. Results of the mixed-method and qualitative studies indicated that older adults with higher morale and good physical capability had more positive perceptions of health.
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: These results suggest that promoting a positive perception of aging and a self-care attitude would help to enhance older adults' quality of life and should be incorporated into future health promotions and interventions.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A search strategy was applied in six databases and grey literature. Inclusion criteria were primary observational studies on informal caregiving for care recipients aged 60 years and above, in the English language. Informal caregivers were those not formally hired and multimorbidity referred to presence of at least two health conditions. From a total of 2,101 titles, 230 abstracts were screened, and 19 articles were included. Quality assessment was conducted with application of the Newcastle-Ottawa-Scale.
RESULTS: Health-related and caregiving-related outcomes have been assessed for informal caregivers of older adults with multimorbidity. Caregiver subjective burden was most commonly evaluated and often reported to be low to moderate. In association with care recipient multimorbidity, caregiver burden, quality of life, and perceived difficulty in assisting the older adults were examined in 14 of the studies with mixed results. Studies were heterogeneous, with nonuniform definitions of informal caregivers and multimorbidity as well as measurement tools.
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This narrative review found that caring for older adults with multimorbidity impacts caregivers, although overall evidence is not conclusive. Despite caregiving-related outcomes being most commonly assessed among the caregivers, particularly subjective burden, findings suggest that it is worthwhile to examine other outcomes to enrich the evidence base.