Purpose: Global geriatric population has been on a rise. In India it is projected to rise to about 324 million by the year 2050. In the developing market economies like India QOL is a multidimensional rather than unidirectional concept1. It looks into many domains and facets that have an impact on lifestyle. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Group defines quality of life as individual’s perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns'. The effects of disease and health interventions on an individual's quality of life can be measured by quality of life assessments2. All the aspects of `health status `lifestyle', 'life satisfaction', 'mental state' and 'well-being' together reflect the multidimensional nature of quality of life. However, in India, only a few studies have explored geriatric health problems, particularly mental health disorders and quality of life. Considering this background, this mental health study was conducted to examine the different domains of quality of life affected by socio-demographic factors in the geriatric population. Study done by Varma et al (2008) shows that total QOL in urban area is significantly better than rural. But as per our assumption, in rural areas, the elderly work till their body permits they experience power, prestige in family and social life and economic independence while in urban areas, the elderly work for certain age limit as per their jobs, after which they suffer from economic insecurity, loss of power leading to low quality of life3. So, we are trying to explore the domain in which rural - urban population are lacking and recommend the measures to improve the quality of life. Aim: To evaluate the QOL among rural and urban elderly population between age group of 65- 75years.OBJECTIVES- To assess and compare QOL among urban and rural elderly population by using WHOQOL-BREF scale. Method: Observational cross-sectional comparative study. Results: The study results show that there is a significant difference in Quality of life of rural and urban population with significant p value. CONCLUSION-The above study concludes that Overall Quality of life is better in urban than in rural elderly population. The Overall health is better in urban than in rural elderly population. The Quality of Life of rural elderly population was better in physical and psychological domains whereas urban slum elderly was better in social relationship and environmental domain
