scholarly journals Quality of life assessment in pre-hospital and hospital emergency healthcare workers: A pilot study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Nasr Isfahani ◽  
Mohammad Hadi Hatami ◽  
Donya Sheibani Tehrani

Introduction Quality of life (QoL) is an important index of general and mental health. Several studies have demonstrated healthcare staff can provide higher quality services to patients when they have a better QoL. Working in emergency care services has a heavy workload therefore poor QoL can lead to poor quality of service to patients. We aimed to assess the QoL in pre-hospital and hospital emergency healthcare workers in Isfahan province in Iran via the WHOQOL-BREF (World Health Organization Quality of Life) questionnaire. Methods A total of 891 pre-hospital and hospital emergency personnel were selected via the census method. The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was filled out by the participants over a period of 1 year. Results A total of 891 subjects participated. About 33.7% of the participants were pre-hospital emergency staff, 59.1% emergency department nurses, 5.3% emergency department physicians, and 1.6% emergency medicine specialists. Approximately 412 participants (48.8%) were women and 469 (53.2%) were men (mean age 37.72 ± 11.02 years). QoL in pre-hospital and hospital emergency personnel had the highest mean score in the general health domain (61.43 ± 21.38) and the lowest mean score in the environmental health domain (48.54 ± 17.62). Social relationships with a mean score of 53.30 ± 23.56 were not significantly different to the average (p>0.05). Workplace and work experience had a significant effect on all domains of QoL. Conclusion Pre-hospital and hospital emergency personnel in Isfahan province had an optimal QoL, except in environmental health. Therefore, to increase the QoL in this area the periodical evaluation of environmental health is recommended. Appropriate training to create workplace adjustment and work experience can also improve QoL.

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mir Hasan Shakil Mahmud ◽  
Bushra Yeasmin ◽  
Shipra Mandal

Schizophrenia is one of the major mental disorders which affect individual’s thinking ability, social interaction or attention. It affects person’s entire quality of life. The purpose of the study was to find out the quality of life of schizophrenic patient in Bangladesh. Cross sectional study design was used to conduct this study. The convenient sampling procedure was used throughout the process of participant’s selection and the numbers of respondents were 83. The study was carried out at National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital (NIMH), Dhaka. Data was collected by using face to face interview with a structured questionnaire WHOQOL-BREF (The World Health Organization Quality of Life- BREF) scale. It was found that most of the participants lead poor to moderate quality of life in four domains of the WHOQOL-BREF scale. Results showed that mean scores were for physical health (mean 2.7, SD+0.106); psychological health (mean 2.108, SD +0.0787); social relationship (mean 2.226; SD+0.116) and environmental health (mean 2.47; SD+0.077).This study indicated that, quality of life poor on psychological domain. It was also found statistically significance with age and social relationship domain (p value 0.005< 0.05); marital status and physical health domain (p value 0.004<0.05); educational level and physical health domain (p value 0.005<0.05) and environmental health domain (p value 0.025<0.05). There were no statistically significant difference between gender and other variables. Schizophrenia affects all aspects of person’s life such as physically, psychologically, socially and economically. Schizophrenic patients as well as their family members led very poor quality of life.Bang J Psychiatry June 2015; 29(1): 30-34


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 78-78
Author(s):  
Joanne Spetz ◽  
Jacqueline Miller ◽  
Connie Kwong ◽  
Laura Wagner

Abstract The Support at Home pilot program provided financial support for the purchase of home care services by middle-income adults with disabilities in San Francisco to support aging in place. Enrollees had income below the area median and made copayments based on household income. The mixed-methods evaluation of the program incorporated administrative records, surveys of clients and comparison group members, surveys of unpaid caregivers, surveys of paid care providers, and focus groups with clients and unpaid caregivers. Outcome measures included the Older People’s Quality of Life Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-2, an adapted Burden Scale for Family Caregivers, and self-reported falls, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. Analyses included pre-post chi-squared and t-test comparisons between client and comparison groups and multivariate regressions. An economic analysis was conducted to learn whether changes in costs associated with reduced health care utilization were greater than the costs of the program. Results indicated statistically significant positive changes in client ratings of personal and financial stress, but not in the composite quality of life score. There were statistically significant reductions in attendance at medical appointments, falls, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. Similar changes were not found in the comparison group. The focus group data supported the findings regarding personal and financial stress and indicated that clients and their caregivers perceived quality of life benefits. The economic analysis indicated substantial cost savings from the program due to reduced use of medical services. Due to its positive impacts, San Francisco has made Support at Home a permanent program.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Garces-Arteaga ◽  
Nataly Nieto-Garcia ◽  
Freddy Suarez-Sanchez ◽  
Héctor Reynaldo Triana-Reina ◽  
Robinson Ramírez-Vélez

Objective.To examine the influence of a medium-impact exercise program (MIEP) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) in females with subclinical hypothyroidism (sHT).Materials and Methods.We selected 17 sedentary women with sHT (mean age: 43.1 (standard deviation: 9.7) years). Participants carried out an MIEP consisting of 3 weekly sessions of 60 minutes during 12 weeks. Before and after the exercise program HRQoL was assessed by the SF-12v2 questionnaire, andVO2maxwas evaluated by Rockport walk test.Results.After the 12-week intervention, the participants that performed an MIEP showed improvements in HRQoL in most domains, particularly the vitality domain by 7 points, the social functioning domain by 10 points, the mental health domain by 7 points, and the mental component summary by 7 points. One of the four domains within the physical component summary (general health domain) showed significant effect of the exercise intervention: 6 points. Moreover, the participants that performed exercise showed a higherVO2max(28%;P<0.01).Conclusion.After 12 weeks of medium-impact exercise program, there were remarkable improvements in HRQoL in most domains. Moreover, this exercise program proved to have a positive influence on cardiorespiratory fitness.


2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J Brownstein ◽  
Estela Salagre ◽  
Cristiano Köhler ◽  
Brendon Stubbs ◽  
João Vian ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L Cowie ◽  
Margot F Underwood ◽  
Cinde B Little ◽  
Ian Mitchell ◽  
Sheldon Spier ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Asthma is common and is often poorly controlled in adolescent subjects.OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of an age-specific asthma program on asthma control, particularly on exacerbations of asthma requiring emergency department treatment, and on the quality of life of adolescents with asthma.METHODS: The present randomized, controlled trial included patients who were 15 to 20 years of age and had visited emergency departments for management of their asthma. The interventional group attended an age-specific asthma program that included assessment, education and management by a team of asthma educators, respiratory therapists and respiratory physicians. In the control group, spirometry was performed, and the patients continued to receive usual care from their regular physicians. The outcomes were assessed by a questionnaire six months after entry into the study.RESULTS: Ninety-three subjects entered the study and were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Of these, only 62 patients were available for review after six months. Subjects in both the control and the intervention groups showed a marked improvement in their level of asthma control, reflected primarily by a 73% reduction in the rate of emergency department attendance for asthma. Other indexes of disease control, including disease-specific quality of life, as assessed by questionnaires, were improved. There was, however, no discernible difference between the subjects in the two groups, with the exception of an improvement in favour of the intervention group in the symptom (actual difference 0.7, P=0.048) and emotional (actual difference 0.8, P=0.028) domains of the asthma quality of life questionnaire. The overall quality of life score favoured the intervention group by a clinically relevant difference of 0.6, but this difference did not reach statistical significance (P=0.06).CONCLUSIONS: Although all subjects demonstrated a significant improvement in asthma control and quality of life, the improvement attributable to this intervention was limited to two domains in disease-specific quality of life.


Author(s):  
Amira Omrane ◽  
Asma Khedher ◽  
Chayma Harrathi ◽  
Maher Maoua ◽  
Taoufik Khalfallah ◽  
...  

Background: Healthcare workers are at a high risk of developing Occupational Dermatitis (OD). Affected workers often experience severe impairment of their Quality of Life (QoL). This study aimed to assess the skin-related QoL of healthcare workers with OD and to explore its related factors. Methods: A cross-sectional and exhaustive study was conducted among healthcare personnel of four public hospitals in the central region of Tunisia. All the cases of OD declared were included. Skin-related QoL was assessed using the validated Tunisian version of the “Dermatology Life Quality Index” (DLQI). Some related patents were discussed. Results: A total of 37 cases of OD were collected with an annual incidence of 4.2 cases per 10000 workers. The population was predominantly female (73%) and mean aged 44.7±9.4 years. Nurses were the most represented occupational category (38%). Allergic contact dermatitis was the most frequent diagnosis (96%). Use of gloves was the most frequently reported occupational hazard (86%). The most frequently affected sites were hands (97%). The median score of DLQI was five. Multivariate analysis showed an association between the impairment of skin-related QoL and female gender (p = 0.04; OR = 19.3,84), exposure to disinfecting chemicals in the workplace (p = 0.01; OR = 17,306) and the absence of occupational reclassification (p = 0.01; OR = 21,567). Conclusion: About one third of the population had an impaired quality of life. The score impairment was significantly related to female gender, exposure to disinfecting chemicals and the absence of occupational reclassification.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-22
Author(s):  
Fahmida Ahmed ◽  
Meherunnessa Begum ◽  
Md Abdul Wahab ◽  
Sayed Kamaluddin Ahmed

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a severe and debilitating anxiety disorder which causes severely impaired quality of life. The objective of the study was to assess the quality of life of the patients suffering from OCD. It was a cross-sectional study conducted from January 2011 to June 2011 among 46 patients who attended the out-patient department of the National Institute of Mental Health Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh by using purposive sampling technique. A Semi-structured questionnaire, Dhaka University Obsessive Compulsive Scale (DUOCS), World Health Organization Quality of Life-Scale Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorder, 4th edition (DSM-IV) were used in each case for this assessment. Results showed that mean age of the patients was (29.07±6.11) years, majority of the respondents (71.7%) were male, 63.0% were unmarried and 34.8% were students. Patients were least satisfied with social domain and patients having only obsession had lower mean score (23.54±1.80) in environmental domain than in patients having both obsession and compulsion (25.15±3.70). OCD patients having major conflict (52.2%) were least satisfied with environmental health domain and patients suffering from OCD for more than ten years (78.3%) had low score than those suffering for less than ten years (21.7%) in overall quality of life domain. Patients having strained family relationship (34.8%) were less satisfied to psychological health domain and patients getting medication (91.3%) had better quality of life in all domains than those getting no medication (8.7%).Bang J Psychiatry June 2015; 29(1): 18-22


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