scholarly journals Perceived Social Support Attenuates the Association between Stress and Health-Related Quality of Life among Adults Experiencing Homelessness

Author(s):  
Midhat Z. Jafry ◽  
Jayda Martinez ◽  
Tzuan A. Chen ◽  
Michael S. Businelle ◽  
Darla E. Kendzor ◽  
...  

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is defined as a multidimensional subjective assessment of one’s physical and mental health. Homelessness is associated with numerous stressors that can reduce HRQoL. Social support is defined as the availability of individuals, or resources provided by individuals, to cope with stress. Interpersonal social support may be important in buffering HRQoL from the negative implications of stress. Here, we examine this association in a marginalized group known for high rates of physical and mental health comorbidities: adults experiencing homelessness. Participants (N = 581; 63.7% men; Mage = 43.6 ± 12.2) were recruited from homeless-serving agencies in Oklahoma City. Social support was measured with the 12-item Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL). HRQoL was measured by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey using self-rated health, the number of poor mental and poor physical health days over the preceding 30 days, as well as the number of limited activity days as the result of poor mental and/or physical health. Perceived stress was assessed using the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The potential moderation effect of social support was examined by assessing the interaction term of social support and stress in a series of linear regression analyses, controlling for sex, age, months homeless, race, education, health insurance status, serious mental illness diagnosis, and recruitment agency/site. There was a significant interaction effect of social support and stress on the prediction of days of poor physical health, days of poor mental health, and days of limited activity (p in all cases ≤ 0.05). Results add to a growing literature on the potentially protective benefits of social support for HRQoL, extend them to a large sample of adults experiencing homelessness in the South, and demonstrate the significance of this moderating effect of social support over and above the influence of several prominent sociodemographic and diagnostic variables. Future work should determine if interventions designed to enhance social support can buffer HRQoL from the deleterious effects of stress among this vulnerable population.

2009 ◽  
Vol 124 (5) ◽  
pp. 692-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haomiao Jia ◽  
Erica I. Lubetkin

Objectives. Although numerous studies have examined health-related quality of life (HRQOL) longitudinally, little is known about the impact of seasonality on HRQOL. We examined trend and seasonal variations of population HRQOL. Methods. We used data from the monthly Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). We examined monthly observed mean physically and mentally unhealthy days from January 1993 to December 2006, using the structural time-series model to estimate the trend and seasonality of HRQOL. Results. We found overall worsening physical and mental health during the time period and a significant and regular seasonal pattern in both physical and mental health. The worst physical health was during the winter and the best physical health was during the summer. The mean number of physically unhealthy days in January was 0.63 days higher than in July. The worst mental health occurred during the spring and fall, but the magnitude of the seasonal effect was much smaller. The difference between the best and worst months of mentally unhealthy days was approximately 0.23 days. We found significant differences in unadjusted and season-adjusted unhealthy days in many counties. Conclusions. Our findings can be used to examine time-varying causal factors and the impact of interventions, such as policies designed to improve population health. Our findings also demonstrated the need for calculating season-adjusted HRQOL scores when examining cross-sectional factors on the population HRQOL measures for continuous surveys or longitudinal data.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
R K Mehta ◽  
S Subedi ◽  
S Bohora

Globally, diabetes is ranked as the 4th leading cause of death in terms of disease and places a huge strain on public health funding. Quality of life (QOL) is an important and understudied topic in the diabetes. Most studies reports that quality of life among people with diabetes is worse than QOL in general population. Thus, this study is aimed to assess health related quality of life of diabetic patients. We conducted a hospital- based non experimental prospective study. Total 50 diabetic patients were enrolled in this study by using purposive sampling technique. Short-Form 36 questionnaire was used to assess the QOL of diabetic patients. Among 50 respondents, 27 were female and 23 were male. In physical health, 56% respondents had obtained score above 50, 2% respondents had obtained score 50 and 42% respondents had obtained score below 50.Similarly, in mental health, 56% respondents had obtained score above 50 and 44% respondents had obtained score below50. This result indicates that majority of respondents (56%) had better QOL. It concludes that majority (56%) of respondents had better QOL in both physical and mental health and in physical health 2% had average QOL and 42% had poor QOL and in mental health 44% had poor QOL. So, the family, physician, nurses and policy makers can use this finding to identify and implement appropriate interventions for better management and ultimately improving QOL of diabetic patients.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmc.v4i3.11933Journal of Chitwan Medical College 2014; 4(3): 13-16 


Obesity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 669-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Takemoto ◽  
Bruce M. Wolfe ◽  
Corey L. Nagel ◽  
Janne Boone‐Heinonen

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 439-439
Author(s):  
Kayla Parsons ◽  
Leigh Neptune ◽  
Ashley Reynolds ◽  
Amelia Sullivan ◽  
Carol Byrd-Bredbenner ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives The objective was to explore the influence of health behaviors on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among college undergraduate students. Methods A convenience sample of college students completed an online survey consisting of the Center for Disease Control's HRQOL modules, perceived stress scale, sleep questionnaire, and the National Cancer Institute Fruit and Vegetable (FV) Screener. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using self-reported height and weight. Independent t-test were used to compare HRQOL between students who consumed above/below average fruit and vegetable intake. Two multiple regression analyses were used to determine health factors that predicted better HRQOL. Results Participants (N = 655) were 19.8 ± 1.5 years old, female (63%), and white (84%). The average FV intake was 2.2 servings per day. Students who consumed more than the average intake of FV, reported more days/month (d/m) feeling healthy and full of energy (11.9 ± 8.6 vs. 8.9 ± 7.9, P < 0.001), and reported less d/m of poor mental health (8.5 ± 8.1 vs. 11.1 ± 9.8, P < 0.001) compared to those who consumed less than the average. Two predictors explained 38.5% of variance in d/m when mental health was not good (r2 = 0.38, F (2,639) = 200.11, P < 0.001): perceived stress (β = 0.61, P < 0.001) and FV intake (β = −0.08, P < 0.05). Four predictors explained 30.0% of the variance in d/m feeling happy and full of energy (r2 = 0.29, F (4,549) = 58.6, P < 0.001): perceived stress (β = −0.46, P < 0.001), BMI (β = −0.11, P < 0.01), FV intake (β = 0.16, P < 0.001), and hours of sleep (β = 0.08, P < 0.05). Conclusions This data shows that students who consumed above average FV intake reported more days of feeling happy and full of energy and less days of poor mental health, and that modifiable behaviors (FV intake, stress, sleep) impact HRQOL of young adults. This research provides justification for college aimed wellness interventions to include both nutrition education and mental health resources to improve overall HRQOL. Funding Sources This project was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project number #ME0022104 through the Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station. NJ Agriculture Experiment Station.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilham Alia ◽  
M.A. Fauzi ◽  
S.S Ismail ◽  
Ezmas Mahno ◽  
A W Ahmad ◽  
...  

Introduction: Foot ulcer is one of the most serious complications associated with diabetes mellitus that mat resulted in a disability and impairment of health related quality of life. Materials and Methods: The main objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the factors adversely associated with quality of life among diabetic foot ulcer patients. Diabetic patients with evidence of diabetic foot ulcer attending outpatient orthopaedics and general surgical clinic of Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan were recruited into this study. A set of validated SF-36 questionnaire was employed to evaluate the health-related quality of life for each patient. This study was registered with the National Medical Research Register (NMRR registration no. 17-1520-36332). Results: There is a slightly higher proportion of female among the 104 respondents. Its prevalence is most pronounces in the lower income group. Majority presented with Wagner stage 2 and 3. Amputation has been performed in 54% of these patients. Physical health score fair worse than mental health. Age, low socioeconomic status, presence of comorbidities, major amputation, ulcer at the forefoot and wheelchair usage associated with an adverse effect on the physical health aspect in these patients. Interestingly, smoker seems to score better on the mental health aspect of the quality of life. Conclusion: Diabetic foot ulcer affected physical health aspect much more than mental health aspect within the context of the quality of life.


2022 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-95
Author(s):  
Md Abdul Qader ◽  
AKM Abu Mottaleb ◽  
Naznin Akter Shetu ◽  
Raonokosh Salehin Khan ◽  
Tanjima Ahad Nisha ◽  
...  

Objectives: Assessment of health related quality of life (HRQOL) is an essential part of evaluation of end stage renal disease (ESRD) as we have conducted this study on haemodialysis patients to see the HRQOL and to asses and compare the parameters which influence physical and mental health. Materials and Methods: This was a single centre study on haemodialysis patients using Short Form 36 (SF-36) of Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL). All the eight domains of HRQOL were assessed individually as well as summary scores for mental health (MCS Mental composite summary) and physical health (PCS Physical composite summary) were also evaluated. The questionnaire was completed by patient themselves and the clinical data was extracted from the medical records with prior consent from the patient. Results and discussion: The study participants showed a female predominance of 66% with a lower PCS and MCS scores among female participants in comparison to their male counterparts. Overall summary scores showed a lower PCS (38.71±8.15) than MCS (42.79±11.6) which reflects better mental health than physical health in the study population. A multiple regression analysis showed, the presence of residual renal function (β= -0.421, p= 0.02), duration of dialysis (β= 0.405, p= 0.03) and haemoglobin less than 12g/dL (β= 0.379, p= 0.02) were significant predictors of MCS. Conclusion: HRQOL in haemodialysis patients are influenced by socio-demographic as well as clinical parameters. In our population, kidney disease affects physical health more than mental health and the reasons are multifactorial. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 21(1) 2022 Page : 90-95


Author(s):  
Mehdi Rezaei Far ◽  
Farzad Faraji-Khiavi

Background: Nurses face a lot of stress in their jobs, and the quality of life has a significant impact on the quality of their services. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between general health and the quality of life conditions in nurses working in hospitals affiliated with Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in Ahvaz. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study was conducted in 2017 on nurses working in educational hospitals in Ahvaz. The sample size was 265. A categorized random sampling was used for the research The collected data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, independent t-test, ANOVA, regresson and Pearson correlation tests. Data collection tools included the general health questionnaire (GHQ) and the questionnaire on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Results: Nurses had fairly good general health (23.9 ± 12.4) and their health-related quality of life was moderate (60.29 ± 16.07). Their physical health (63.4 ± 22.5) was found better than their mental health (61.7 ± 20.3) as a factor in the health-related quality of life states. General health had a strong and negative correlation with the quality of life associated with physical health (P-value < 0.001 and r = - 0.61) and the quality of life associated with mental health (P-value < 0.001 and r = - 0.68). Conclusion: Many aspects of health-related quality of life are influenced by general health factors. Therefore, it is recommended that prevention, identification, and treatment of physical and psychological problems and factors affecting the quality of life be considered as a priority, leading to an improvement in nurses’ quality of life.


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