OBJECTIVES

EQ-5D is one of the most widely used instrument in the world. Little is known about how self-perceived health status (SPHS) is influenced by psychosocial factors in Latin America. We aimed to analyse this relationship in 22 countries of the region.

METHODS

Using the Gallup World Survey dataset 2007-2008 that contained 22 Latin American countries, we analysed the association between SPHS (EQ-5D, dichotomous variable that took value 1 if respondent had at least one health problem in any of the five dimensions) and a number of psychosocial variables (life evaluation index, perception of the country today, perception that if work hard can get ahead, confidence in healthcare, feelings about household income, feel well-rested, feel treated with respect, feel that learn something, perception of the city economy getting better, having a reliable business partner, perception of the quality of the city´s healthcare), adjusted by country level development indicators clustered into 5 categories (Human Development Index (HDI), Gini coefficient of inequality, percentage of rural population, and average life expectancy). Multivariate regressions were conducted using Stata 12.0.

RESULTS

We found significant associations with poor quality of life and life evaluation index (people reporting struggle OR=1,4 or suffering OR=1,9). All categories of feeling worried about household income also reported significant associations with EQ5D compared to living comfortably on present time (ORs between 1,5 and 2,7, p<0.001). Feeling unrested, badly treated by others and not learning something was also significantly associated with poor quality of life (ORs 1,5, 1,3 and 1,5, respectively). Those perceiving the country ´s economy getting worse and those dissatisfied with the quality of healthcare also reported a higher chance of poor quality of life (OR=1,3 and OR=1,2, respectively, p<0.001). Associations were maintained after adjusting for country-level clusters

CONCLUSIONS

Quality of life is intimately related to psychosocial conditions, both at household and country level independently.