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. 2025 Jun 6:13:1587104.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1587104. eCollection 2025.

The impact of life events on health-related quality of life in rural older adults: the moderating role of social support

Lijun Liu #  1 , Jiaman Li #  1 , Yiwen Tang  1 , Cheng Chen  2 , Chan Yu  3 , Xiaofeng Li  4 , Li Peng  5 , Daikun Zheng  1
Affiliations

The impact of life events on health-related quality of life in rural older adults: the moderating role of social support

Lijun Liu et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Global aging is one of the most significant social trends of the 21st century. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is an important indicator not only for evaluating the effectiveness of medical interventions, public health policies, and disease management, but also for enhancing the health of the older adult. This study aimed to explore the mechanisms through which life events and social support affect the HRQoL of rural older adults, with the aim of promoting healthier aging in this population.

Methods: A stratified random sampling method was used to select rural older adult individuals from southeastern Henan Province, China. Data were collected using the Life Events Scale, the Social Support Scale (SSS), and the SF-8 Health Survey. T test and the analysis of variance were employed to compare characteristics differences in HRQoL. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to assess the relationships between life events, social support, and HRQoL. And a regression test was used for Moderating Effect analysis.

Results: The participants in this questionnaire survey showed that Univariate analysis revealed statistically significant associations between age, education, chronic disease in HRQoL among the rural older adult. Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant negative correlations not only between life events and social support, but also between life events and HRQoL, while a significant positive correlation was found between social support and HRQoL. Regression analysis for moderating effects showed that life events negatively predicted HRQoL, while social support positively predicted HRQoL. The interaction term of the product life events and social support was also significant.

Conclusion: Our results confirm that life events and social support were significant predictors of the HRQOL among rural older adults, with social support acting as a moderating variable, and provide empirical evidence that enhancing social support systems and reducing negative life events are crucial for improving the health-related quality of life in rural older adult populations and achieving healthy aging.

Keywords: health-related quality of life; life events; moderating effect; older adult; social support.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A model of the influence of life events and social support on health-related quality of life in the older adult.
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