Double trouble: the impact of multimorbidity and deprivation on preference-weighted health related quality of life - a cross sectional analysis of the Scottish Health Survey

K. Lawson, S. Mercer, S. Wyke, E. Grieve, B. Guthrie, G.C.M. Watt, E. Fenwick

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

lt;bgt;Objectivelt;/bgt; To investigate the association between multimorbidity and PreferenceWeighted Health Related Quality of Life (PWHRQoL), a score that combines physical and mental functioning, and how this varies by socioeconomic deprivation and age.lt;pgt;lt;/pgt; lt;bgt;Designlt;/bgt; The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) is a cross-sectional representative survey of the general population which included the SF-12, a survey of HRQoL, for individuals 20 years and over.lt;pgt;lt;/pgt; lt;bgt;Methodslt;/bgt; For 7,054 participants we generated PWHRQoL scores by running SF-12 responses through the SF-6D algorithm. The resulting scores ranged from 0.29 (worst health) to 1 (perfect health). Using ordinary least squares, we first investigated associations between scores and increasing counts of longstanding conditions, and then repeated for multimorbidity (2+ conditions). Estimates were made for the general population and quintiles of socioeconomic deprivation. For multimorbidity, the analyses were repeated stratifying the population by age group (20--44, 45--64, 65+).lt;pgt;lt;/pgt; lt;bgt;Resultslt;/bgt; 45% of participants reported a longstanding condition and 18% reported multimorbidity. The presence of 1, 2, or 3+ longstanding conditions were associated with average reductions in PWHRQoL scores of 0.081, 0.151 and 0.212 respectively. Reduction in scores associated with multimorbidity was 33% greater in the most deprived quintile compared to the least deprived quintile, with the biggest difference (80 in the 20--44 age groups. There were no significant gender differences.lt;pgt;lt;/pgt; lt;bgt;Conclusionslt;/bgt; PWHRQoL decreases markedly with multimorbidity, and is exacerbated by higher deprivation and younger age. There is a need to prioritise interventions to improve the HRQoL for (especially younger) adults with multimorbidity in deprived areas.
Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Journal for Equity in Health
Volume12
Issue number67
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Aug 2013

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