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Abstract

Background: Quality of life (QOL) is one of the health indexes for which many efforts have been made to define and measure during the last four decades of the 20th century in many countries. This paper is aimed at studying the QOL in relation to socioeconomic status of the general population of Isfahan in 1390. Materials and Methods: We applied a descriptive-analytical and sectional method. In this research, 385 women and men over 15 years of age from 14 regions of Isfahan's municipality were studied using multi-stage quota sampling. We examined QOL using the SF-36 standard questionnaire, along with two domains of mental and physical health and eight subscales within the validity domain of 65–90%. Social (81%) and economical (70%) status was also measured by the questionnaire instrument in both objective and subjective domains after confirming the validity and reliability of the instruments. The given data were analyzed by SPSS 17 software and using descriptive and statistical tests. Results: The indicators of QOL showed that a score deviation of the SF-36 questionnaire in physical health (SD = 2.31) and mental health (SD = 3.22) domains was obtained from the population. Of the eight subscales, bodily pains and limitations on functioning as physical and mental had an inverse relationship with socioeconomic status. However, physical health, mental health, social activities, public health, and vitality had a significant positive relationship, including different strengths and weaknesses, with socioeconomic status. Also, sexuality and housing status had no relationship with QOL. Conclusion: There is a direct and significant relationship between quality of life and socioeconomic status variables in Isfahan.

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Psychometric assessment of the Quality of Life Index.

Stephen J. Powers, C Ferrans (1992)

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Quality of Life Index (QLI) (Ferrans & Powers, 1985a). The sample consisted of 349 patients selected randomly from the adult, in-unit hemodialysis patient population of Illinois. Factor analysis was used to examine the underlying factor structure. A four-factors solution best fit the data, indicating that there were four dimensions underlying the QLI: health and functioning, socioeconomic, psychological/spiritual, and family. Factor analysis of the four primary factors revealed one higher order factor, representing quality of life. Construct validity also was supported by the contrasted groups approach. As predicted, it was found that those who had higher incomes had significantly higher quality of life scores on the social and economic subscale. Support for convergent validity was provided by a strong correlation (r = .77) between scores from the QLI and an assessment of life satisfaction. Findings supported the internal consistency reliability of the entire QLI (alpha = .93) and the four subscales (alphas = .87, .82, .90, .77).

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The concept of quality of life: what we know and do not know.

Robert Schalock (2004)

Over the past two decades the concept of quality of life (QOL) has increasingly become a focus for research and application in the fields of education/special education, health care (physical and behavioural), social services (disabilities and ageing), and families. This article summarizes our current understanding of the construct of individual QOL as it pertains to persons with intellectual disabilities (ID). The article's three major sections discuss what we know, what we are beginning to understand, and what we still do not know about the QOL construct. We currently know the importance of the QOL construct as a service delivery principle, along with its current use and multidimensional nature. We are beginning to understand the importance of methodological pluralism in the assessment of QOL, the multiple uses of quality indicators, the predictors of assessed QOL, the effects of different data collection strategies, and the etic (universal) and emic (culture-bound) properties of the construct. We have yet to understand fully the use of QOL-related outcomes in programme change, how to best evaluate the outcomes of QOL-related services, and how to use the concept of QOL to impact public and disability reform. The article concludes with a brief discussion of future challenges related to demonstrating the concept's social validity and positive impact on the lives of persons with ID.

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The impact of socioeconomic status on health functioning as assessed by the SF-36 questionnaire: the Whitehall II Study.

M Marmot, Garth A Nicholson, H. Hemingway … (1997)

This study measured the association between socioeconomic status and the eight scale scores of the Medical Outcomes Study short form 36 (SF-36) general health survey in the Whitehall II study of British civil servants. It also assessed, for the physical functioning scale, whether this association was independent of disease. A questionnaire containing the SF-36 was administered at the third phase of the study to 5766 men and 2589 women aged 39 through 63 years. Socioeconomic status was measured by means of six levels of employment grades. There were significant improvements with age in general mental health, role-emotional, vitality, and social functioning scale scores. In men, all the scales except vitality showed significant age-adjusted gradients across the employment grades (lower grades, worse health). Among women, a similar relationship was found for the physical functioning, pain, and social functioning scales. For physical functioning, the effect of grade was found in those with and without disease. Low socioeconomic status was associated with poor health functioning, and the effect sizes were comparable to those for some clinical conditions. For physical functioning, this association may act both via and independently of disease.