Factors Affecting Health-related Quality of Life in Women Undergraduates

Cha, Bo Kyoung

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was conducted to define factors influencing health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in women undergraduates. Independent variables of physical activity, attitude to eating, satisfaction with body shape, stress and self-esteem were used to predict HRQOL. METHOD: Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 20.0 program for descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression. Participants were 245 women undergraduates who were recruited from July to September 2012. RESULT: The mean for the physical component summary (PCS) of HRQOL was 73.89, and for the mental component summary (MCS) was 68.45. There were significant correlations between attitude to eating, satisfaction with body shape, stress, self-esteem and the two components of HRQOL. The groups with minimal or health enhancing activity were significantly higher in PCS and MCS than the inactivity group. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that 35% of the variance in PCS was significantly accounted for by self-esteem, perceived stress, attitude to eating, and physical activity, and 45% of the variance in MCS was significantly accounted for by perceived stress, self-esteem, attitude to eating, and satisfaction with body shape.
CONCLUSION
The results indicate that these factors influencing HRQOL should be considered when developing programs to improve HRQOL for women undergraduates.