Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life Among Patients with Chronic Diseases and Its Relationship with Multimorbidity: A Cross-Sectional Study from Saudi Arabia

• Published in: Patient preference and adherence Vol. 18; pp. 1077 - 1094
• Main Authors: Alzarea, Abdulaziz Ibrahim, Khan, Yusra Habib, Alzarea, Sami I, Alanazi, Abdullah Salah, Alsaidan, Omar Awad, Alrowily, Maily J, Al-Shammari, Monefah, Almalki, Ziyad Saeed, Algarni, Majed A, Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 30.06.2024; Dove; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Analysis; Chronic diseases; Chronically ill; Comorbidity; Complications and side effects; Diabetes; diabetes mellitus; disease outcomes; eq-5d-5l; Health aspects; hrqol; hypertension; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Original Research; Quality of life; saudi arabia; Surveys; Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia; disease outcomes; chronic diseases; HRQoL; EQ-5D-5L; diabetes mellitus; quality of life; hypertension
• ISSN: 1177-889X; 1177-889X
• DOI: 10.2147/PPA.S448915

Chronic diseases hold the potential to worsen the overall health of patients by limiting their functional status, productivity, and capacity to live well, affecting their overall health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The purpose of the study was to assess the HRQoL of individuals with chronic diseases residing in the Al-Jouf region of Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the current study also sought to ascertain the impact of multimorbidity and the duration of illness on HRQoL. A cross-sectional study was conducted among the residents of Al-Jouf region for a period of 6 months. A self-administered EuroQoL (EQ-5D-5L) study tool was used. Appropriate statistical analysis was conducted to ascertain the relationship between various variables and HRQoL. A total of 500 out of 562 participants completed the study, with a response rate of 88.97%. Participants had a mean age of 46.15 ± 16.79 years, and the majority were female (n = 299; 59.80%). A mean HRQoL score of 0.82 ± 0.20 was reported, poorest in patients with kidney failure (0.65 ± 0.26) and highest in hepatitis. However, nearly half of the participants had diabetes mellitus type II (n = 205, 39.20%). Patients aged <30 years (OR: 0.109; p = 0.002), male participants (OR: 0.053; p < 0.001), no disability (OR: 0.143; p = 0.002), and <2 comorbid diseases (0.84 ± 0.18; p < 0.001) reported better QoL. Additionally, comorbid conditions such as DM, prolong the duration of the overall illness (14.19 ± 7.67 years). Overall, imperfect health (n = 390, 78%) was reported by the study participants. The present study provided preliminary data about the current HRQoL status of individuals with imperfect health and lower HRQoL. In the future, large-scale longitudinal studies are required to investigate the most prevalent chronic diseases, their associations, and change in HRQoL, as there is a dearth of information in the Saudi population.