The gender role in the relationship between food-related perceived resources and quality of life among ecuadorian elderly

Abstract Individuals not only have a set of personal resources to carry out their activities, they also have a perception with respect to the availability of these resources. As people age, personal food-related perceived resources (FPR) become increasingly important, and these influence their quality of life (QOL). Since men and women differ in aspects like education, consumption and pensions, this study seeks to identify the gender role in the relationship between FPR and QOL among Ecuadorian elderly. The sample included elderly people of both sexes in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, with the application of stratified random sampling. The instrument included: FPR scale, satisfaction with food-related life scale (SWFLS) and the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). The results indicated that those men and women who have a better perceived satisfaction with their economic situation are in physically and mentally good health, assign greater importance to family, are more satisfied with their food-related life, and have a higher number of FPR and therefore a better QOL. A relevant conclusion is that SWFLS and FPR are predictors of QOL among Ecuadorian elderly and that gender helps to explain the sign and magnitude of the relationship between these variables.

摘要：个体不仅拥有开展各类活动所需的一系列个人资源，同时也会对这些资源的可获得性形成主观感知。随着年龄增长，个人食物相关感知资源（food-related perceived resources, FPR）的重要性日益凸显，并会对个体的生活质量（quality of life, QOL）产生影响。鉴于男性与女性在教育、消费及养老金等方面存在差异，本研究旨在探究厄瓜多尔老年群体中，FPR与生活质量之间的关联所涉及的性别作用。本研究采用分层随机抽样方法，以厄瓜多尔瓜亚基尔市的男女老年群体作为研究样本。研究工具包括：FPR量表、食物相关生活满意度量表（satisfaction with food-related life scale, SWFLS）以及总体生活满意度量表（satisfaction with life scale, SWLS）。研究结果显示，对自身经济状况感知满意度更高的男女老年群体，身心健康状况更佳，更重视家庭，对食物相关生活的满意度更高，同时拥有更多的FPR，因此整体生活质量也更优。本研究的一项重要结论为：SWFLS与FPR是厄瓜多尔老年群体生活质量的预测因子，而性别有助于解释上述变量间关联的方向与强度。