Quality of life among community-dwelling older adults receiving primary care in the Podkarpackie region (Poland): a cross-sectional study

Quality of life (QoL) in older adults is influenced by a complex interplay of sociodemographic characteristics, multimorbidity, and medication burden. Understanding these relationships among community-dwelling older adults receiving primary healthcare may support more targeted approaches to care. To assess quality of life among community-dwelling older adults and examine its associations with sociodemographic characteristics, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 101 community-dwelling adults aged ≥ 60 years receiving primary healthcare in the Podkarpackie region of Poland. Quality of life was assessed using the validated Polish version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported health conditions, and regular medication use were collected using an author-designed questionnaire. Bivariate analyses were complemented by multiple linear regression models assessing the independent associations of multimorbidity and polypharmacy with each WHOQOL-BREF domain after adjustment for age, marital status, and education. Polypharmacy was defined as the regular use of five or more medications. The highest mean quality-of-life score was observed in the social relationships domain (66.09 ± 16.88), whereas the lowest scores were observed in the physical health (51.41 ± 17.39) and environmental (51.58 ± 16.01) domains. In bivariate analyses, age, education, marital status, multimorbidity burden, and medication use were associated with quality of life in one or more WHOQOL-BREF domains. A greater number of reported health conditions and higher medication use were associated with lower scores across all four domains. In multivariable analyses, a greater number of reported health conditions remained independently associated with lower physical health scores (B = − 3.57, 95% CI −6.40 to − 0.74; p = 0.014) and lower social relationships scores (B = − 5.10, 95% CI −8.22 to − 1.98; p = 0.002). Polypharmacy was not independently associated with any WHOQOL-BREF domain after adjustment. Quality of life among community-dwelling older adults receiving primary healthcare varied across WHOQOL-BREF domains and was associated with both sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. Multivariable analysis indicated an independent association between greater multimorbidity burden and poorer outcomes in selected quality-of-life domains, whereas the associations observed for polypharmacy in bivariate analyses were attenuated after adjustment for disease burden and sociodemographic factors.