Relationship between subjective well-being and the functionality of elderly outpatients

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between subjective well-being, functional independence and lower-limb performance (muscle strength, gait velocity and balance) among elderly people undergoing outpatient follow-up, stratified by sex and age groups. Methods: We evaluated 125 elderly people, aged 60 years and over, who received care at a geriatric outpatient clinic. The instruments used were: 1) Functional Independence Measure (FIM) to evaluate functional dependence; 2) Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) to measure physical performance; and 3) Subjective Well-Being (SWB) with questions about health and satisfaction with life. Results: A convenience sample was used, with predominance of females (who had greater functional impairment). The Spearman correlation coefficients for subjective well-being and the performance tests varied from -0.16 to 0.31 for men and -0.09 to 0.29 for women, therefore there were no differences between the sexes. However, the older participants had a higher level of satisfaction than the younger participants. Perceived health was also more satisfactory among the older participants, however comparative perceived health was better among the elderly participants with moderate to good physical performance. Conclusion: The results suggest that older individuals have greater satisfaction with life and better perceived health. Moreover, good physical performance was an important variable for better perceived health when compared to other people.