Components of Chronic Illness in the Elderly: A Review Study

Chronic diseases reduce life expectancy and disability. The elderly are one of the most important groups who are more exposed to social, physical and environmental harms than other members of society. They often have various problems. Chronic illness is a multidimensional experience in which the patient has to adapt to different situations and people. Due to the existence of various chronic diseases in the elderly, the present study was conducted to review the psychological components associated with chronic diseases in the elderly. Given the existence of chronic diseases in the elderly, it is important to consider long-term planning and treatment to cure the diseases in them. The present review study was conducted by searching the information sources of Magiran, Sid, ScinceDirect, Web of science, pubmed. Articles related to chronic illness, the elderly, mental health, quality of life and life expectancy were extracted from 2009-2019 and after reviewing and summarizing and full text of the articles, finally 45 articles were used for writing. The results showed that components such as mental health, quality of life and life expectancy play an important role in chronic disease in the elderly. Given that chronic disease in the elderly is a multifaceted complication that is affected by several factors, so it seems In order to prevent and reduce chronic diseases in the elderly and improve their health, a multiple approach with the participation of individuals, families and social institutions is necessary.