ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON QUALITY OF LIFE IN DEPRESSION PATIENTS: USING WHOQOL SCALE

Dr. Dhanush M.* and Dr. Geetha Jayaprakash

ABSTRACT

Background: Quality of life (QOL) data in depression patients are limited due to a lack of comprehensive studies, variability in patient experiences, or challenges in measuring subjective well-being accurately. However, ongoing research aims to better understand the impact of various treatments on QOL, and new studies are being conducted to fill this gap in knowledge. We studied the impact of Socio-Demographic factors on QOL outcomes in depressed patients. Methods and Materials: An observational study was conducted among 51 subjects in out-patient department of psychiatry. Data on QOL was assessed by using the tool, World Health Organization Quality of life BREF (WHOQOL BREF). The gathered data was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive analysis was used to interpretation of categorical values, Independent T-test, one way ANOVA and Pearson’s Correlation were used for finding association. Results: The study collected 51 samples, with the majority of patients being female (52.9%). The majority of subjects were homemakers (41.2%), with education below SSLC (39.21%). The majority of subjects were married (80.4%), and primarily resided in rural areas (67%). The WHO QoL BREF scale showed that satisfaction with environmental health was the most affected domain, while satisfaction with social relationships was the least affected. Males generally reported higher QOL scores than females, but no significant differences were found across age groups. Government employees had the highest physical domain scores, while students scored highest in social relationships. No significant differences were observed across occupations, and those with undergraduate education reported higher QOL scores in most domains. Urban residents had higher scores in physical and psychological domains, but no significant differences were found between rural and urban residents. There was a significant positive correlation between WHOQOL Q1(Overall QOL) and psychological, WHOQOL Q2(Health related QOL) with environment, and physical with psychological and environment. There were no significant correlations between social and environmental factors, suggesting a positive relationship between these factors. Conclusion: A score around 3.33 suggests that the respondent feels neither fully satisfied nor dissatisfied. Its slightly above the midpoint (3.0) indicating that the experience or perception leans positively but is not strong.

Keywords: World Health Organization Quality of life BREF (WHOQOL BREF), Quality of life (QOL).