Correlation between quality of life and social support among men who have sex with men

ObjectiveTo investigate quality of life(QOL)and social support status and their relationship among men who have sex with men(MSM)in Chongqing city,and to provide basis for developing intervention measures.MethodsSnowball sampling and internet investigation techniques were applied to recruit MSM.The World Health Organization's Quality of Life Instrument-Short Version(WHOQOL-BREF)and Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS)were used to collect information from 803 MSM.ResultsThe scores of QOL for physiological domain,psychological domain,social relation,and environmental domain were 14.03±2.14,13.38±2.44,13.45±2.88,and 12.52±2.48,respectively,among the MSM.Three of four canonical correlation coefficients were statistically significant in canonical correlation analysis and their cumulative contribution rate was 96.20%.For the first pair canonical correlation variables,V₁ was decided by subjective support,utilization of support,monthly income,presence of regular sexual partner,and number of friends in gay circles and W₁ was influenced by physiological and social relation domain.ConclusionThe level of social support among MSM in Chongqing city could obviously influence their QOL and monthly income,presence of regular sexual partner and number of friends in gay circles have important effects on QOL.