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The relationship between SF-6D utility scores and lifestyle factors across three life stages: evidence from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate how SF-6D utility scores change with age between generations of women and to quantify the relationship of SF-6D with lifestyle factors across life stages.

Methods

Up to seven waves of self-reported, longitudinal data were drawn for the 1973–1978 (young, N = 13772), 1946–1951 (mid-age, N = 12792), 1921–1926 (older, N = 9972) cohorts from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Mixed effects models were employed for analysis.

Results

Young and mid-age women had similar average SF-6D scores at baseline (0.63–0.64), which remained consistent over the 16-year period. However, older women had lower scores at baseline at 0.57 which steadily declined over 15 years. Across cohorts, low education attainment, greater difficulty in managing income, obesity, physical inactivity, heavy smoking, no alcohol consumption, and increasing stress levels were associated with lower SF-6D scores. The magnitude of effect varied between cohorts. SF-6D scores were lower amongst young women with high-risk drinking behaviours than low-risk drinkers. Mid-age women, who were underweight, never married, or underwent surgical menopause also reported lower SF-6D scores. Older women who lived in remote areas, who were ex-smokers, or were underweight, reported lower SF-6D scores.

Conclusion

The SF-6D utility score is sensitive to differences in lifestyle factors across adult life stages. Gradual loss of physical functioning may explain the steady decline in health for older women. Key factors associated with SF-6D include physical activity, body mass index, menopause status, smoking, alcohol use, and stress. Factors associated with poorer SF-6D scores vary in type and magnitude at different life stages.

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Acknowledgements

The research on which this paper is based was conducted as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, the University of Newcastle and the University of Queensland. We are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Health for funding and to the women who provided the survey data. We are grateful to Richard Hockey for his advice on ALSWH data and statistical analysis. We would like to thank the editor and peer reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4006, Australia

    Jeeva Kanesarajah, Michael Waller & Gita D. Mishra

  2. School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Jennifer A. Whitty

  3. Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Jennifer A. Whitty

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  1. Jeeva Kanesarajah
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  2. Michael Waller
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  4. Gita D. Mishra
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Correspondence to Jeeva Kanesarajah.

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Funding

Jeeva Kanesarajah was funded by the Australian Postgraduate Award.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This research was approved by the University of Newcastle (H-076-0795 and H-2012-0256) and The University of Queensland human ethics committees (2004000224 and 2012000950). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Kanesarajah, J., Waller, M., Whitty, J.A. et al. The relationship between SF-6D utility scores and lifestyle factors across three life stages: evidence from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Qual Life Res 26, 1507–1519 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1498-4

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