Health-related quality of life in women at work despite ill-health. A prospective, comparative study of hospital cleaners/home-help staff before and after staff support.
The aims of this prospective, non-randomized, comparative study were to elucidate how 99 female hospital cleaners and home-helps, at work despite ill-health, experienced their quality of life, and to study whether this was affected by a particular programme of staff support. The SF-36 questionnaire was used. This contains questions on physical, mental and social health status. Health status, i.e. experienced health, was assessed by the respondents themselves. Low quality of life relating to the dimensions bodily pain, general health perceptions and vitality proved to apply both to the hospital cleaners and the home-help staff, compared to a normal Swedish female population. No significant differences between the intervention group and the reference group were demonstrated among either the cleaners or the home-helps. Following the intervention/period of customary measures, experienced quality of life was somewhat changed in the groups compared with the normal Swedish female population. This may indicate a certain unspecific improvement in experienced quality of life in both the intervention groups and the reference groups.
Landstad
B
B
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ekholm
J
J
Schüldt
K
K
Bergroth
A
A
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D018576:Home Health Aides; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology*