The Quality of Life of The Elderly in Sattahip Town Municipality, Sattahip District Chonburi Province

Abstract

                           The objectives of this research were: 1) to investigate the levels of quality of life among the elderly in Sattahip Town Municipality, Sattahip District, Chonburi Province; and 2) to conduct a comparative analysis of their quality of life based on individual socio-economic factors. The sample consisted of 359 elderly residents, determined using Yamane’s formula (1973). Data were collected via a questionnaire with a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.967. and content validity (IOC = 0.80). Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, t-test, and One-way ANOVA with Fisher's LSD post-hoc comparisons at the .05 significance level.

                          The findings revealed that:

1. The majority of respondents were female, aged 60-69, with secondary or vocational education. Most were retired government or state enterprise employees with adequate income and no outstanding debt, living with relatives or extended family members.
2. The overall quality of life of the elderly was at a high level ( = 86). When categorized by dimension, all areas were rated as high, ranked from highest to lowest as follows: 1) Environmental health, 2) Psychological well-being, 3) Social relationships, and 4) Physical health.
3. Hypothesis testing indicated that differences in age, educational attainment, occupation, income adequacy, and household relationships significantly resulted in varying levels of quality of life at the .05 level. Conversely, gender did not significantly affect the quality of life among the elderly.
4. These findings suggest that municipal policies should be designed based on economic and social vulnerability rather than gender-based differentiation, to sustainably enhance well-being in a super-aged urban community.