Active aging, psychological well-being and quality of life of elderly and pre-elderly Malaysians during movement control periods

Little is known about the factors associated with active aging during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. This study aims to examine the perception of Malaysians with regard to active aging during the period of Movement Control Orders (MCOs) in Malaysia. The variables, namely financial planning, daily living activities, social support and networking, psychological well-being and quality of life were investigated. Two hundred and twenty-three individuals took part in this cross-sectional online study, and data were analyzed using the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to examine the posited research hypotheses. The results revealed that psychological well-being is the leading factor that positively affects quality of life, followed by social support and networking, daily living activities and financial planning. When a comparison was made between the pre-elderly and elderly participants, some differences were observed. In the pre-elderly, financial planning and daily living activities were positively associated with social support and networking, and financial planning was also associated with quality of life. However, these observations were not apparent in the elderly group. During the economic recovery period, plans made on healthy aging should consider the importance of psychological well-being, as well as financial planning in the pre-elderly.