Quality of life of middle-aged female staff officers in the Royal Thai Navy Base, Bangkok.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of quality of life and to determine the factors associated with the quality of life of middle-aged female staff officers. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The population was 309 females aged 40-60 years who were working in the Royal Thai Navy Base in Bangkok, excluding those at the Naval Medical Department. Data collection was by self-administered questionnaires from June to July 2000. The t-test, one way analysis of variance, and Pearson's product moment correlation were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The majority of middle-aged female staff officers (61.8%) had overall scores which indicated that they had a moderate quality of life. The factors which were significantly associated with quality of life were marital status, menopausal symptoms, self esteem, social support, and family income. The factors which were not associated with quality of life were rank, age, educational level, number of living children, chronic diseases, stage of menopause and club membership. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the responsible organizations should improve females' the self esteem of middle-aged female staff officers, establishing social networks and providing health promotion programs to enhance their well being, as well as quality of life.