Abstract:

Introduction: In attention to the effect of self-esteem on elders’ health improvement, considering economical and social factors are of importance.

Objective: This research was carried out to investigate involving factors with self-esteem of elders residing in Rasht elderly nursing homes during 2008.

Methods: This is a descriptive study conducted on 32 elders residing in elderly nursing homes. The qualified elders filled the questionnaires included demographic characteristics and Rosenberg’s Self-esteem measuring scale. The Pearson correlation between variables was determined using SPSS soft ware version 15.  

Results: The average age of the participants was 73.53 (± 8.31). 4% of participants were widowed, 43.8% didn't have any children, 87.5% were uneducated, and 12.5% had primary education. Their average time of residence was 1357±17.11days. The source of income for 59.4 % of participants was through children and relatives. 27 elders (84.4%) had frequent visits with relatives. 34.4% of them had history of a disease. There were significant correlations between number of children, marriage, education with job and number of previous jobs with gender; job with education and number of previous jobs; and  visit frequency  with education and time of the last visit. There was negative significant correlation between age and self esteem, but positive correlation between economical situation and self esteem.

Conclusion: Economical and social status of elders residing in elderly nursing homes has significant effect on their self-esteem.

Key words: Demography, Self esteem, Aged