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Health-related quality of life of doctors and nurses in China: findings based on the latest open-access data

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Abstract

Objective

To assess the health-related quality of life (QOL) of doctors and nurses using the recent free-access data.

Methods

The health-related QOL data of doctors and nurses came from a sub-survey of the Fourth National Health Services Survey (NHSS) of China in 2008, which used the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions 3 level version (EQ-5D-3L) to measure the QOL. We used logistic regression to compare the percentage of respondents reporting any problems for each dimension of the EQ-5D-3L descriptive system between inhabitants aged 15–64 years and doctors and nurses.

Results

Fewer doctors and nurses reported problems in mobility (1.9%) than inhabitants aged 15–64 years (2.9%) (odds ratio = 0.65). No difference was detected in self-care problem. Compared with inhabitants aged 15–64 years, a relatively large proportion of doctors and nurses reported problems in usual activities (3.4% vs. 2.7%; odds ratio = 1.27), pain/discomfort (18.1% vs. 6.7%; odds ratio = 3.08), and anxiety/depression (24.6% vs. 5.1%; odds ratio = 6.07). The EQ-VAS score mean of doctors and nurses approached that of inhabitants aged 15–64 years (82 vs. 79).

Conclusion

Compared with inhabitants aged 15–64 years, doctors and nurses have relatively poor health in usual activities, self-reporting pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression.

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Fig. 1

Abbreviations

HRQOL:

Health-related quality of life

EQ-5D-3L:

European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions 3 level version

OR:

Odds Ratio

CI:

Confidence Interval

SF-36:

The Short Form (36) Health Survey

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Acknowledgment

This publication was supported by the 2009 New Central Scholar Support Grant of Ministry of Education of China (NCET-10-0782).

Conflicts of interest

We declare we have no competing interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, The First Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China

    Min He

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, 110 Xiangya Road, Changsha, 410078, China

    Qiqi Wang, Songlin Zhu, Aichun Tan, Qiong He, Tianmu Chen & Guoqing Hu

Authors
  1. Min He
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  2. Qiqi Wang
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  3. Songlin Zhu
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  4. Aichun Tan
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  5. Qiong He
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  6. Tianmu Chen
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  7. Guoqing Hu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guoqing Hu.

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He, M., Wang, Q., Zhu, S. et al. Health-related quality of life of doctors and nurses in China: findings based on the latest open-access data. Qual Life Res 21, 1727–1730 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-0088-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-0088-0

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