The level and influencing factors of gerotranscendence in community-dwelling older adults

Purpose: To study the level and influencing factors of gerotranscendence in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: We investigated 772 community-dwelling older adults in Hengyang in the Hunan Province of the People's Republic of China using a translated Gerotranscendence Scale and demographic information. Results: The community-dwelling older adults had an overall intermediate level of gerotranscendence. One-way analysis of variance and multiple linear regression analysis showed that sex, living arrangements, regular activities, and religious affiliation influenced the gerotranscendence perspective of the community-dwelling older adults (p < 0.05), but that living arrangement and gerotranscendence perspective were not significantly correlated. The covariates clarified about 38.8% of the variation in gerotranscendence perspective. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that sex, regular activities, religious affiliation, and living arrangement influence gerotranscendence. These findings can guide the planning and implementation of better practices in elderly care by nurses and other healthcare professionals. Copyright (C) 2015, Chinese Nursing Association. Production and hosting by Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license