Comparison of quality of life in low back pain patients and healthy subjects by using WHOQOL-BREF.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Low back pain and consequence disability is one of the most prevalence musculoskeletal disorders that human being ever had involved. Quality of life is a multidimensional concept and is beyond absolute physical health. In this study, we compared QOL between low back pain patients and healthy people using WHOQOL-BREF which is a generic and overall instrument. METHODS: This descriptive-analytic study was carried out on 256 low back pain patients and healthy people in Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Babol. They filled out the questionnaires personally and the scores of different domains in two groups were compared. WHOQOL-BREF has four domains of physical health, psychological health, social relations and environment health. The range of scores in each of these domains is from 4-20. The two questions are about the general quality of life and general health. Overall, a higher score indicates better quality of life. RESULTS: The participants' age range was from 18 to 63 with the mean ± SD of 36.63 ± 10.99. The scores of these four domains and general quality of life and general health of WHOQOL-BREF were lower in low back pain patients. These differences were statistically significant in physical health and environmental health. CONCLUSIONS: Lower QOL in low back pain patients necessitate doing some interventions such as education and rehabilitation in this group. This indicates the importance of more attention to these patients to plan future treatments in order to reinforce these domains.

Self-reported psychopathology and health-related quality of life in heroin users treated with methadone.

BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) remains poor among heroin users, even after being treated with methadone. Evidence regarding self-reported psychopathology and HRQoL in heroin users is also limited. The present study aimed to investigate the association between self-reported psychopathology and HRQoL in Asian heroin users treated with methadone. METHODS: Thirty-nine heroin users treated with methadone and 39 healthy controls were recruited. Both groups self-reported on demographic data, the Brief Symptom Rating Scale, EuroQoL-5D, and World Health Organization Questionnaire on Quality of Life: Short Form. We compared clinical characteristics, psychopathology, and HRQoL between the two study groups. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to explore the association between psychopathology and HRQoL in the heroin user group. RESULTS: Heroin users had more psychopathology and worse HRQoL than healthy controls. The HRQoL of heroin users had significant correlations with Brief Symptom Rating Scale scores. HRQoL could be predicted by depression, anxiety, paranoia, and additional symptoms (ie, poor appetite and sleep difficulties) independently. CONCLUSION: Self-reported psychopathology, depression, anxiety, paranoia, poor appetite, and sleep difficulties had a negative impact on each domain of HRQoL among heroin users treated with methadone. The importance of the environmental domain of HRQoL is discussed. Clinicians should recognize comorbid psychiatric symptoms early on to improve HRQoL in heroin users.

Avaliação da qualidade de vida: comparação entre idosos jovens e muito idosos / Assessment of quality of life: comparison between elderly young and very old

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: Os idosos representam uma população heterogênea, principalmente nos extremos etários, em que há predomínio de doenças crônico-degenerativas com diferentes impactos sobre a qualidade de vida (QV). O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar e comparar a QV de idosos jovens e muito idosos.MÉTODO: Estudo transversal constituído por idosos em seguimento ambulatorial de um hospital-escola, distribuídos por faixa etária em dois grupos: G1 - idosos jovens (60-70 anos) e G2 - muito idosos (85 anos ou mais). Utilizou-se um questionário auto-aplicativo de QV para idosos, da Organização Mundial de Saúde (WHOQOL-OLD), composto por 6 domínios: funcionamento dos sentidos, autonomia, morte e morrer, atividades passadas, presentes e futuras, participação social e intimidade. As respostas dos dois grupos foram avaliadas e comparadas.RESULTADOS: Foram avaliados 69 idosos, sendo 35 do G1 e 34 do G2. Em ambos, houve predomínio do sexo feminino, sedentários, independentes para atividades básicas de vida diária, com média de 8 comorbidades. A média do escore total do WHOQOL-OLD foi 84,08 para o G1 e 83,32 para o G2. CONCLUSÃO: Observou-se boa qualidade de vida na população estudada. A comparação entre os grupos mostrou que a QV não parece decair com a idade.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Elderly represents a heterogeneous population, mainly in the extreme age, in which there is a predominance of chronic-degenerative diseases with different impacts on the quality of life (QL). This study aimed to evaluate and compare the quality of life of elderly young and very old.METHOD: Cross-sectional study consisting of elderly in outpatient follow-up of a hospital, distributed into two groups: G1 - elderly young (60-70 years) and G2 - very old (85 and over). The World Health Organization questionnaire (WHOQOL-OLD) was used composed of 6 domains: sensory function, autonomy, death-dying, past-present-future activities, social participation and intimacy. The answers of two groups were evaluated and compared.RESULTS: This study evaluated 69 elderly, 35 in G1 and 34 in G2. In both, there was a predominance of females, averaging 8 comorbidity, sedentary and independent for basic activities of daily living. The total average score WHOQOL-OLD was 84.08 between G1 and 83.32 between G2.CONCLUSION: A good quality of life was observed in the studied population. The comparison between groups showed that the QF does not seem to decline with age.