n this study, six themes including physical, social, financial and economic, environmental psychological, and religious, emerged as the important aspects of QoL among both rural and urban elderly in Vietnam. Person–environment interaction is a major variable in the evaluation of QoL in elderly people. Economic aspects and family ties are also important components of QoL. While older populations share many of the elements of QoL across cultures, this research demonstrates clearly how not only socio-cultural issues, but also geographic issues impinge on understandings of QoL. This research has attempted to bridge this gap in Vietnam by providing insights into both rural and urban perceptions of the dimensions of QoL that are most important to them.
The findings are significant for developing a QoL instrument for the elderly that could be used for comprehensive and long-term outcome evaluation of health promotion intervention programs to this population in Vietnam. The suggested instrument would include subjective assessments of the six themes that were identified as relevant for QoL among elderly Vietnamese, taking into account the differences in level of emphasis among these themes. Visual scales could be used to accommodate for variations in literacy, and recall period would be limited to the present or a short period of time to make the instrument easy for elderly individuals to respond to.