Sociodemographic factors, level of physical activity and health-related quality of life in adults from the north-east of São Paulo, Brazil: a cross-sectional population study

Effects of concurrent exercise on health-related quality of life in middle-aged women

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of a 16-week concurrent exercise program on health-related quality of life in middle-aged women.

METHODS

A total of 150 middle-aged women from the FLAMENCO project (age range 45-60 years) were randomized into a counseling (n = 75) or an exercise (n = 75) group. The exercise group followed a 16-week (3 days/week, 60 min/session) concurrent exercise program (aerobic + resistance training). The counseling group attended conferences on a healthy lifestyle. Participants' health-related quality of life was assessed with the EuroQol plus, a visual analog scale and the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), where greater values indicate a better health-related quality of life.

RESULTS

The visual analog scale increased by 9.0% in the exercise group, whereas it only increased by 3.5% in the counseling group (p = 0.040). The SF-36 physical function, physical role, bodily pain, vitality and emotional role increased by 5.5%, 11.3%, 10.8%, 9.6% and 8.9%, respectively, in the exercise group, whereas these only increased by 0.6%, decreased by 0.7% and increased by 1.4%, 3.8% and 0.6% in the counseling group (all p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that a 16-week concurrent exercise program adapted for midlife women improved their health-related quality of life.

CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER

NCT02358109. Date of registration: 05/02/2015.

Factors associated with health-related quality of life among home-dwelling older adults aged 75 or older in Switzerland: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

HRQoL is an indicator of individuals' perception of their overall health, including social and environmental aspects. As a multidimensional concept, HRQoL can be influenced by a multitude of factors. Studies of HRQoL and factors associated with it among home-dwelling older adults have often been limited to inpatient settings or to a sub-population with a chronic disease. Studying HRQoL and its correlating factors among this population, by providing an ecological lens on factors beyond the individual level, can provide a better understanding of the construct and the role of the environment on how they perceive their HRQoL. Thus, we aimed to assess the HRQoL and investigate the correlates of HRQOL among home-dwelling older adults, guided by the levels of the ecological model.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional population survey conducted in 2019 in Canton Basel-Landschaft, in northwestern Switzerland, and includes a sample of 8786 home-dwelling older adults aged 75 and above. We assessed HRQoL by using the EQ-index and the EQ-VAS. The influence of independent variables at the macro, meso and micro level on HRQoL was tested using Tobit multiple linear regression modelling.

RESULTS

We found that having a better socio-economic status as denoted by higher income, having supplementary insurance and a higher level of education were all associated with a better HRQoL among home-dwelling older adults. Furthermore, being engaged in social activities was also related to an improved HRQoL. On the other hand, older age, female gender, presence of multimorbidity and polypharmacy as well as social isolation and loneliness were found to all have a negative impact on HRQoL.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding factors related to HRQoL by using an ecological lens can help identify factors beyond the individual level that impact the HRQoL of home-dwelling older adults. Our study emphasises the importance of social determinants of health and potential disparities that exists, encouraging policymakers to focus on policies to reduce socio-economic disparities using a life-course approach, which consequently could also impact HRQoL in later stages of life.

Chronic diseases and emotional disorders are associated with low perception of quality of life in food insecurity/security

Understanding individual perception of Quality of Life (QoL) can help combat social and health inequalities. We aimed to identify factors associated with Low Perceived Quality of Life (LPQoL) in 295 adults and older adults with food security and food insecurity, in the city of Natal, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to December 2019, with collection of data on socioeconomic demographic status, lifestyle information, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and risk factors, emotional disorders, food (in) security and quality of life. To assess food insecurity, the Brazilian Scale of Food Insecurity—EBIA was used, and the WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire was used to assess quality of life. Poisson's Regression was used to verify associations between variables and LPQoL, stratifying the sample into food secure (FS) and food insecure (FI) groups. In the FI group, being overweight, older adult, having no partner, drinking alcoholic beverages twice a week or more, and not having daily availability of water were associated with LPQoL, and in the FS group, having diabetes, monthly family income in the 1st and 2nd tertiles, and never having studied was associated with LPQoL. Reporting emotional disorders and sleeping &lt; 7 h/day were associated with LPQoL in both FI and FS groups. LPQoL was associated with the occurrence of NCDs and risk factors, and emotional disorders, regardless of the food security measure. However, the lack of adequate access to water highlights the social vulnerability of the FI group.

Five-Repetition Sit-to-Stand Test Performance in Healthy Individuals: Reference Values and Predictors From 2 Prospective Cohorts

Objective

The 5-repetition-sit-to-stand (5R-STS) test is an objective test of functional impairment- commonly used in various diseases, including lumbar degenerative disc diseases. It is used to measure the severity of disease and to monitor recovery. We aimed to evaluate reference values for the test, as well as factors predicting 5R-STS performance in healthy adults.

Methods

Healthy adults (> 18 years of age) were recruited, and their 5R-STS time was measured. Their age, sex, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, education level, work situation and EuroQOL-5D Healthy & Anxiety category were recorded. Linear regression analysis was employed to identify predictors of 5R-STS performance.

Results

We included 172 individuals with mean age of 39.4±14.1 years and mean BMI of 24.0 ±4.0 kg/m². Females constituted 57%. Average 5R-STS time was 6.21 ±1.92 seconds, with an upper limit of normal of 12.39 seconds. In a multivariable model, age (regression coefficient [RC], 0.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.05/0.09; p<0.001), male sex (RC, -0.87; 95% CI, -1.50 to -0.23; p=0.008), BMI (RC, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.10–0.71; p=0.010), height (RC, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.04–0.22; p=0.006), and houseworker status (RC, -1.62; 95% CI, -2.93 to -0.32; p=0.016) were significantly associated with 5R-STS time. Anxiety and depression did not influence performance significantly (RC, 0.82; 95% CI, -0.14 to 1.77; p=0.097).

Conclusion

The presented reference values can be applied as normative data for 5R-STS in healthy adults, and are necessary to judge what constitutes abnormal performance. We identified several significant factors associated with 5R-STS performance that may be used to calculate individualized expected test times.

Health-related quality of life among Jewish older persons in Mexico and its determinants

PURPOSE

Aging research in Mexico has significantly increased in the past decades, however, little is known on health related quality of life (HRQoL) of older adults. The aim of this study was to expand this field by examining HRQL in a representative sample of Jewish older adults in Mexico, and to investigate its association with different factors.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of community dwelling Jewish men and women aged 60 years and older. HRQoL was measured using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Bivariate analysis was performed to estimate the association of scores of HRQoL and different characteristics of the study sample and multiple linear regression models were estimated using ordinary least squares (OLS), to explore determinant factors associated to HRQoL in this sample, for the eight domains of the SF-36 sub-scales separately.

RESULTS

Two hundred ninety-five older persons were interviewed. Mean age was 72.7 years (SD 7.9), men made up 57% of the sample, 67% were married and 52% reported living with another person, mostly the spouse. Higher HRQoL was associated with higher educational attainment, being married, and having higher social support, while lower HRQoL was associated with being widowed, in worse financial situation, having chronic diseases and being in the oldest age groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings show that gender, socioeconomic level, educational attainment, marital status as well as social support & community participation are relevant factors influencing HRQoL in our study sample. With respect to the SF-36 subscales, HRQoL of Jewish older adults in Mexico present higher scores than that of adults and older adults previously found in other studies in Mexico. Further studies comparing other characteristics among them could help bring further understanding of these differentiated ageing processes.

Hepatitis C virus infection and risk of pancreatic cancer: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

A growing body of evidence has suggested an association between Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and risk of pancreatic cancer (PAC). Herein, we conducted a meta-analysis of available evidence to explore this association.

METHODS

We systematically retrieved studies that investigated the association between HCV infection and risk of PAC. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with corresponding 95 % confidence interval (CI) of PAC for patients with HCV infection was calculated using the fixed- or random-effects model.

RESULTS

A total of 16 studies (8 cohort and 8 case-control) were included in this meta-analysis. Combined, patients with HCV infection were more likely to develop PAC than people without it (pooled OR = 1.51, 95 % CI: 1.31, 1.74; I² = 63.49 %, p-value for heterogeneity< 0.001). Studies that adjusted their results for diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, alcohol intake, and smoking showed lower ORs than studies that did not adjust for them.

CONCLUSION

HCV infection was associated with increased risk of PAC, but this association was attenuated among studies that adjusted their results for potential risk factors for PAC. Future prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm this association.

Quality of life and associated factors in patients with chronic Chagas disease

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of patients with Chagas disease (CD) and the association between QoL domains and several clinical, socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics of this population.

METHODS

Cross-sectional observational study conducted from March 2014 to March 2017 including a total of 361 outpatients followed at Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Disease, Brazil. QoL was assessed using the Portuguese shorter version of the original WHO Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). Information about clinical CD presentation, presence of comorbidities, functional class, previous benznidazole treatment, socioeconomic profile and lifestyle was also obtained.

RESULTS

Environment and physical domains presented the worst QoL scores, while the social relationship domain presented the highest score. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that variables independently associated with QoL were functional class, sex, clinical presentation of CD, sleep duration, schooling, physical activity level, smoking, income per capita and residents by domicile.

CONCLUSIONS

The low socioeconomic status and the physical limitations imposed by the disease presented an important impact on the QoL reduction among CD patients, especially on environment and physical domains. Strategies to improve QoL among CD patients should be tailored and consider many different variables to maximise improvements not only of patients' physical but also of their mental health.