The impact of poverty on health-related quality of life among elderly women: Based on moderating effect of local elderly welfare facilities

The present study was focused on verifying the moderating effect of local senior welfare facilities in the impact of poverty on the health-related quality of life in senior women over 60. The fourth year data from Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women & Families, statistical data of local cities and towns from Statistics Korea and business budget expenditure statements from the internet homepages of local cities and towns were used and the cross-level interaction of a Hierarchical Linear Model using personal (level 1) and local (level 2) variables were applied to verify these effects. As a result of this research, the poverty of senior women was proved to directly impact health-related quality of life. In this relationship, it was found that the local senior welfare facilities had a moderating effect. Namely, it was proved that the impact of the quantity of local senior welfare facilities on health-related quality was different between the poor and the non-poor senior women. Based on this research result, political and practical implications to enhance the health-related quality of life in senior women were proposed.