Impact of Psychiatric Morbidity on Quality of Life and Self-Esteem in Individuals With Permanent Orthopaedic Disability

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Individuals with permanent orthopedic disability face many adversities and may suffer more from psychiatric illnesses as compared to the normal population. This may affect their self-esteem and quality of life. Aim: To study the impact of psychiatric morbidity on quality of life and self-esteem in subjects with permanent orthopedic disability. Methodology: The study was conducted by the Department of Psychiatry, of a tertiary care hospital from August 1, 2018, to August 1, 2019. A total of 50 subjects over the age of 18 years with permanent orthopedic disability were consecutively enrolled in the department of orthopedics. Orthopedical disability of subjects was assessed and diagnosed by one senior consultant of the Orthopaedics department. Clearance from the Institute’s Ethics Committee was obtained before the start of the study. Psychiatric morbidity was screened in the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Psychiatric diagnosis was confirmed by two senior consultants of the Psychiatry department and as per the International Classification of Diseases-10thedition-Clinical Description and Diagnostic Guidelines. Self-esteem and quality of life were assessed on Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES) and WHO- Quality of Life-BREF (WHO QoL Bref), respectively. Results: Statistically significant impact of presence of psychiatric morbidity on Question 1 (P = 0.010), Question 2 (P = 0.002), physical domain (P = 0.001), psychological domain (P = 0.001), social relationship domain (P = 0.001), and environmental domain (P = 0.001) of WHO-QoL-Bref was observed. Subjects with psychiatric illness had lower mean scores as compared to subjects without psychiatric illness. The impact of psychiatric morbidity was also statistically significant on RSES scores (P = 0.000). Conclusion: Psychiatric morbidity impacts the quality of life index and self-esteem negatively in individuals with a permanent orthopedic disability.