Quality of life and its association with psychiatric disorders in outpatients with trauma history in a tertiary hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Quality of life is an important indicator of health and has multiple dimensions. It is adversely affected in patients with trauma history, and psychiatric disorders play an important role therein. Studies in trauma-affected populations focus mainly on the development of psychiatric disorders. Our study explored various aspects of quality of life in trauma patients in a clinical setting, mainly focusing on the association of psychiatric disorders on various domains of quality of life. Methods One hundred patients seeking help at the psychiatry outpatient of a tertiary hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, and with history of trauma were interviewed using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 2.1 for trauma categorization. Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms were assessed using the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version; while the level of anxiety and depression symptoms was assessed using the 25-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25. Quality of life was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality Of Life-Brief Version measure. Information on sociodemographic and trauma-related variables was collected using a semi-structured interview schedule. The associations between psychiatric disorders and quality of life domains were explored using bivariate analyses followed by multiple regressions. Results The mean scores (standard deviations) for overall quality of life and health status perception were 2.79 (.87) and 2.35 (1.11), respectively. The mean scores for the physical, psychological, social and environmental domains were 12.31 (2.96), 11.46 (2.84), 12.79 (2.89), and 13.36 (1.79), respectively. Natural disaster was the only trauma variable significantly associated with overall quality of life, but not with other domains. Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder were all significantly associated with various quality of life domains, where anxiety had the greatest number of associations. Conclusion Quality of life, overall and across domains, was affected in various ways based on the presence of psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in patients with trauma. Our findings therefore emphasize the need to address these disorders in a systematic way to improve the patients’ quality of life.

Psychological distress and quality of life among Opioid Agonist Treatment service users with a history of injecting and non-injecting drug use: A cross-sectional study in Kathmandu, Nepal

“…The two remaining WHOQOL-BREF items separately rate overall perception of QoL and overall perception of the health of an individual [ 33 ]. The WHOQOL-BREF has been validated among OAT service users [ 34 ] and translated into Nepali language and used in research in Nepal [ 35 , 36 ]. It has good discriminant validity, content validity, and test-retest reliability [ 33 , 37 ].…”

Association of childhood trauma, and resilience, with quality of life in patients seeking treatment at a psychiatry outpatient: A cross-sectional study from Nepal

“…Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) (reference number 801) and Institutional Review Committee (IRC) at the Institute of Medicine (reference number 480 (611)6 2 / 075/076) in Nepal and Research Ethical Committee (REK) in Norway (reference number 2015/2081). Details about the methodology are published elsewhere [ 32 , 35 ].…”

Psychological Distress and Quality of Life Among Opioid Substitution Therapy Participants with Histories of Injecting and Non-Injecting: A Cross-Sectional Study in Kathmandu, Nepal

“…The two remaining WHOQOL-BREF items separately rate overall perception of quality of life and overall perception of the health of an individual [20]. The WHOQOL-BREF has been frequently used in research in Nepal and has been translated into Nepali [21,22], and has good discriminant validity, content validity, and test-retest reliability [20,23]. The physical health domain canvasses activities of daily living, energy and fatigue, mobility, pain and discomfort, sleep and rest, and work capacity.…”