Sociodemographic Aspects and Healthy Behaviors Associated With Perceived Life Satisfaction in Health Professionals

• Published in: Journal of primary care & community health Vol. 14; p. 21501319221148332
• Main Authors: Durand-Sanchez, Esther, Ruiz-Alvarado, Carlos, Contreras-Valderrama, Ricardo, Morales-García, Wilter C., Mamani-Benito, Oscar, Huancahuire-Vega, Salomón, Saintila, Jacksaint, Morales-García, Mardel, Ruiz Mamani, Percy G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2023; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Adult; Age; Behavior; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet; Exercise; Habits; Health Behavior; Health services; Health status; Healthy food; Healthy habits; Higher education; Humans; Life satisfaction; Medical personnel; Mental depression; Mental health; Mental health services; Original Research; Personal Satisfaction; Physical activity; Quality of Life; Self evaluation; Sleep; Smoking; Sociodemographics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Symptoms; Vulnerability; Workers; healthy diet; sleep quality; Life satisfaction; health personnel; physical activity
• ISSN: 2150-1319; 2150-1327; 2150-1327
• DOI: 10.1177/21501319221148332

Background: Life satisfaction is a determining factor for the improvement of mental and physical health. Health care workers are a vulnerable population to suffer alterations in the factors that affect life satisfaction. Determining the influence of these factors on quality of life is important for their proper management. Objective: To examine sociodemographic factors and healthy behaviors influencing life satisfaction in Peruvian professionals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 506 health care workers, who had a mean age of 40.34 years (SD = 10.39). A sociodemographic questionnaire, sleep quality, physical activity, eating habits, and life satisfaction were used. A regression model was fitted with the life satisfaction variable as the dependent variable. Results: In multivariable analysis, age (β = −.938, P < .01) and perception of poor health status (β = −4.743, P < .001) were found to be associated with lower life satisfaction. On the other hand, higher university education level (β = 1.667, P < .001), absence of smoking (β = 3.202, P < .01), absence of depressive symptoms (β = 3.390, P < .001), interest in daily activities (β = 3.503, P < .05), good sleep quality (β = 1.027, P < .01), a high frequency of physical activity (β = 1.056, P < .01), and healthy eating are variables associated with higher life satisfaction. Conclusion: Sociodemographic aspects such as age and the perception of poor health are associated with lower life satisfaction. On the other hand, healthy behaviors such as absence of smoking, absence of depressive symptoms, interest in daily activities, good quality of sleep, high frequency of physical activity, and a healthy diet were associated with higher life satisfaction.