The correlation between health status and quality of life in southern Brazil

Abstract

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE:The interconnections between quality of life and health status as assessed via questionnaires have not been thoroughly investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate a possible correlation between the constructs of general health status and quality of life as assessed by the Portuguese versions of two questionnaires recently adapted and tested in Brazil. DESIGN AND SETTING:This was a cross-sectional study in which two self-administered questionnaires were used. This investigation was conducted at healthcare services associated with the Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Brazil. METHODS:This study presents data from a sample of 120 volunteers who completed the Portuguese versions of the Personal Health Scale and the Multicultural Quality of Life Index questionnaires. Bivariate linear regression analysis and Pearson correlation coeffi cients were generated from the scores of the two questionnaires. RESULTS:A signifi cant correlation between the concepts of quality of life and health status as evaluated by the Portuguese versions of both questionnaires was observed. Almost all of the health-related questions displayed strong correlations with the overall concept of quality of life. The magnitude of this correlation accounted for almost half of the observed variance.CONCLUSIONS: These fi ndings indicate that, within this sample, health-related issues were key factors for the overall experience of wellbeing and quality of life. The similarities observed across the different groups indicate that the interrelation between health status and quality of life was homogenous, regardless of presence and/or type of ailments.

Health, workforce characteristics, quality of life and intention to leave: The ‘Fit for the Future’ survey of Australian nurses and midwives

“…Perhaps unsurprisingly, better physical QoL was seen in nurses reporting better performance of health risk behaviours (not smoking/overweight or obese; meeting physical activity recommendations) and better health (no sleep problems, sickness absence or hospital admissions, chronic diseases or prescribed medication use), although of course the direction of these relationships cannot be determined: PCS could equally be a cause or result of, for example, overweight/obesity. These associations were consistent with previous studies showing health‐related issues as key factors for the overall experience of well‐being and QoL (Garrido et al., ; Inoue et al., ; Lapane et al., ; Zubaran, Persch, Tarso, Ioppi, & Mezzich, ). The absence of disease has been positively associated with QoL in the general population (Garrido et al., ; Inoue et al., ; Lapane et al., ; Zubaran et al., ).…”

“…These associations were consistent with previous studies showing health‐related issues as key factors for the overall experience of well‐being and QoL (Garrido et al., ; Inoue et al., ; Lapane et al., ; Zubaran, Persch, Tarso, Ioppi, & Mezzich, ). The absence of disease has been positively associated with QoL in the general population (Garrido et al., ; Inoue et al., ; Lapane et al., ; Zubaran et al., ). Multiple Australian studies show that people suffering pain and attending chronic pain clinics report reduced QoL; pain management interventions have improved QoL among various patient groups (Agboola, Ju, Elfiky, Kvedar, & Jethwani, ; Huang, Shah, Long, Crankshaw, & Tangpricha, ).…”

“…These occupations and particularly nursing, have long been recognized as stressful, entailing daily exposure to human suffering, frequent violence, long working hours, staffing challenges and the interpersonal relationships that are central to the work (Barton, 2009). There has been much discussion and some localised interventions aimed to improve nurses' and midwives' mental health, such as using stress management and mindfulness-based stress reduction programmes (Edwards & Burnard, 2003;Ruotsalainen, Serra, Marine, & Verbeek, 2008;Yazdani, Rezaei, & Pahlavanzadeh, 2011 (Garrido et al, 2015;Inoue et al, 2015;Lapane et al, 2015;Zubaran, Persch, Tarso, Ioppi, & Mezzich, 2008). The absence of disease has been positively associated with QoL in the general population (Garrido et al, 2015;Inoue et al, 2015;Lapane et al, 2015;Zubaran et al, 2008).…”

“…There has been much discussion and some localised interventions aimed to improve nurses' and midwives' mental health, such as using stress management and mindfulness-based stress reduction programmes (Edwards & Burnard, 2003;Ruotsalainen, Serra, Marine, & Verbeek, 2008;Yazdani, Rezaei, & Pahlavanzadeh, 2011 (Garrido et al, 2015;Inoue et al, 2015;Lapane et al, 2015;Zubaran, Persch, Tarso, Ioppi, & Mezzich, 2008). The absence of disease has been positively associated with QoL in the general population (Garrido et al, 2015;Inoue et al, 2015;Lapane et al, 2015;Zubaran et al, 2008). Multiple Australian studies show that people suffering pain and attending chronic pain clinics report reduced QoL; pain management interventions have improved QoL among various patient groups (Agboola, Ju, Elfiky, Kvedar, & Jethwani, 2015;Huang, Shah, Long, Crankshaw, & Tangpricha, 2013).…”

The use of the computerized version of quality of life and health status questionnaires in a community sample in southern Brazil

“…This is consistent with the finding of a correlation between the scores of the PHS and MQLI using the pen-and-paper methodology during the trial studies on both questionnaires. 25 This evidence contrasts with the findings from one of the few studies designed to investigate a possible correlation between health status and quality of life, which revealed no overlapping performances between a disease-specific quality of life questionnaire and a generic health assessment tool (short form, SF-36) for assessing volunteers affected by allergic conditions. 26 The current study presents limitations that hinder subsequent interpretations regarding the possible role played by socioeconomic factors in explaining both quality of life and health status, since socioeconomic status was not evaluated in this study.…”