Status and impacting factors of quality of life in young and middle-aged intellectuals in Guangzhou city

Objective To investigate the status and influencing factors of quality of life(QOL) in young and middle-aged intellectuals in Guangzhou city,and to provide evidences for the improvement of QOL in the population.Methods A questionnaire about general condition and Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey(SF-36)were used in a survey among 2645 intellectuals aged 18-60 years selected with stratified random sampling in Guangzhou city.Results Among the intellectuals,the proportions of the participants with good,general,and poor QOL were 17.65%,66.55%,and 15.80%,respectively.The average scores of SF-36 were 91.04±13.51 for physical function,75.70±34.75 for role physical,75.61±18.62 for bodily pain,61.63±19.71 for general health,65.82±16.88 for vitality,82.04±17.23 for social function,64.97±41.18 for role emotional,68.98±16.28 for mental health,76.17±13.44 for physical health,69.51±14.95 for psychological health,and 72.77±12.96 for total score. Univariate analyses concluded that the physical function score of middle-aged intellectuals(aged 45-60 years) were lower than that of the young intellectuals(aged 18-44 years),but the scores of other domains of SF-36 of the middle-aged intellectuals were higher than those of the young intellectuals(all P<0.05).Multivariate linear regression analyses indicated that the QOL was positively correlated to physical exercise,sleeping time,having breakfast frequently,and living with family members or friends,but reversely correlated to working time in the young intellectuals; the middle-aged intellectuals with more physical exercise and longer sleeping time had higher QOL score.Conclusion The QOL of young intellectuals is poorer than that of middle-aged intellectuals and physical exercise and sleeping time are main influencing factors of QOL among young and middle-aged intellectuals in Guangzhou city.