Assessment of quality of life among the health workers of primary health centers managed by a nongovernment organization in Karnataka, India: A case study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QOL) is the general well-being as experienced and perceived by individuals and communities. Measuring QOL has a number of implications in a wide variety of contexts including healthcare. Studies have shown that World Health Organization (WHO) QOL-BREF is a quick and an effective tool (as the WHO QOL-100) in capturing the results with respect to key four domains. Healthcare services, in general, are human intensive in terms of emergencies, emotionality, and relationships which could affect grass root health worker's QOL negatively, especially in challenging working environments.OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the QOL among health workers of primary health centers (PHCs) managed by public private partnership in Karnataka State.MATERIALS AND METHODS: An exploratory study was carried out by applying WHO QOL-BREF to 70 health workers from 24 PHCs in 21 Districts of Karnataka and the results were analyzed. Pearson's correlation was conducted to assess the agreement level; paired t-test and ANOVA to compare differences between the domains.RESULTS: Analysis of domain-specific results and gender differences showed that women were more satisfied with physical health domain and men more satisfied with psychological health domain. The least satisfaction was seen in their opportunity for leisure activities and the highest satisfaction was with their ability to perform daily living activities.CONCLUSIONS: The study indicated moderate levels of QOL among the respondents. WHO QOL-BREF is a useful measure to assess, monitor and improve employees' QOL.