HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQOL) OF ADULTS IN BRAZIL: A POPULATION-BASED CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
METHODS: Based on a representative sample of adults living in the Federal District, Brazil, each person was interviewed with questionnaires, including the EQ-5D-3L domains: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. The collected health states were linked by the Brazilian EQ-5D index tariff. Data were analyzed with SPSS Statistics software (version 21) complex sample methods, adopting 0.05 alpha errors. The project was approved by the local ethical committee and the EuroQol Group.
RESULTS: During the first semester of 2012, 1,852 individuals were interviewed and 1,820 (98.3%) were included. Female gender represented 59.8% (n = 1,089), with a mean age of 38.36 years (SD: 12.57), comparable to male (38.40 years, SD: 12.61). The mean EQ-5D-3L score was 0.906 (95%CI: 0,898 to 0,913). According to gender, the mean score was 0.892 (95%CI: 0.882 to 0.902) for female and 0.925 (95%CI: 0.914 to 0.935) for male. Individuals with higher qualifications, including respondents with a degree (n = 316), showed higher scores when compared to respondents without a degree: 0.938 (95%CI: 0.927 to 0.949) versus 0.899 (95%CI: 0.890 to 0.907). Unemployed individuals (n = 247) referred a mean utility of 0.878 (95%CI: 0.858 to 0.899), while the others, 0.910 (95%CI: 0.902 to 0.918). Finally, the score of lower social classes respondents (n = 166) was 0.852 (95%CI: 0.824 to 0.880) against 0.911 (95%CI: 0.904 to 0.919) for upper classes.
CONCLUSIONS: Our sample revealed an elevated HRQoL, which seems to vary according to demographic, social and economic factors. This variation needs better investigation, including confounding analysis.