LIFE SATISFACTION IN ELDERLY NIGERIANS - RELIABILITY AND FACTOR COMPOSITION OF THE LIFE SATISFACTION INDEX-Z

Life satisfaction Index Z was administered to 945 persons aged 60 years and over in a community survey in rural and urban locations in South-Western Nigeria. Life Satisfaction Index scores correlated significantly with items on self-assessed health, loneliness, sex (women having a higher mean score) and location. Items that measure social contact, such as marital status, proximity of nearest child, and frequency of seeing close friends, did not correlate at a significant level. Factor analysis produced two factors on varimax rotation and an internal consistency value of 0.72 was obtained. These values are similar to some of those reported in other studies outside Africa.