Aim: Studies regarding the impact of adult children's migration on older parents left-behind have focused on physical and mental health. This study assessed the relationship between migration of adult children and quality of life (QOL) of older parents left-behind in Nepal.

Methods: A cross-sectional community-based survey was carried out (May-July 2019) among 791 randomly selected older adults aged ≥60 years. QOL was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-abbreviated scale, and migration status was assessed into three categories: no migration, internal migration only and any international migration. A range of sociodemographic characteristics were measured for adjustment. Associations between migration of children and each domain of the QOL were examined by multilevel mixed regression.

Results: Scores for QOL were; 58.8 ± 19.8 for physical, 63.7 ± 18.0 for psychological, 60.7 ± 16.2 for social, and 61.8 ± 15.0 for environmental domains. This study identified positive and null associations between the migration of children and QOL for parents, with higher scores for physical (b = 5.16, P = 0.017) and environmental (b = 3.19, P = 0.046) domains among left-behind parents whose children migrated internally compared with parents whose children did not migrate.

Conclusions: The findings differ from previous research showing poorer QOL among left-behind older parents. Migration plays a significant role in shaping physical and environmental QOL among left-behind parents living in rural areas with important implications for migrants, their families, researchers and social scientists.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	cross-sectional research, left-behind older parents, migration of children, quality of life, WHOQOL-BREF
Research Division:	Health Sciences
Research Group:	Nursing
Research Field:	Aged care nursing
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Community services
Objective Field:	Ageing and older people
UTAS Author:	Thapa, DK (Mr Deependra Thapa)
UTAS Author:	Visentin, DC (Dr Denis Visentin)
UTAS Author:	Kornhaber, R (Dr Rachel Kornhaber)
UTAS Author:	Cleary, M (Professor Michelle Cleary)
ID Code:	141191
Year Published:	2020
Web of Science® Times Cited:	2
Deposited By:	Nursing
Deposited On:	2020-10-02
Last Modified:	2021-11-10
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