The Effects of Depressive Symptoms on Quality of Life Among Institutionalized Older Adults in Taiwan

Purpose To explore the effect of physical health status and depressive symptoms on quality of life (QOL) and to examine whether depressive symptoms mediate the effect of physical health status on the physical and mental components of QOL among institutionalized older adults. Design and Methods A cross‐sectional study was used to assess 306 residents from 73 long‐term care facilities in Taipei, Taiwan. Findings We found that depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between the number of chronic diseases and activities of daily living and physical components of QOL (z = −2.41, p = .016; z = 3.33, p < .001) as well as between the number of chronic diseases and mental components of QOL (z = −2.45, p = .014). Practice Implications Our findings indicate that alleviating depressive symptoms can improve the QOL of older adults in long‐term care facilities.