title: The determinants of self-reported health-related quality of life in a culturally and socially diverse South African community.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine factors predictive of the score on the visual analogue scale (VAS) of the EQ-5D questionnaire.
  
  
  METHODS
  The responses of 1159 residents of a socially and ethnically diverse suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, to the EQ-5D questionnaire were analysed using forward stepwise multiple regression. The variables entered included ethnic group, religious affiliation (Christian or Muslim), income level, unemployment, recent illness or disability and each level of the five EQ-5D domains.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The model developed accounted for an adjusted r(2) of 0.234 and included 11 variables. In addition to the EQ-5D domains, the presence of a disability, an income of less than 420 US dollars per month, unemployment and age in years were significant predictors of VAS score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The substantial contribution of health state to the VAS indicates that it is a valid measure of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) across population groups. However, the subjects with lower social status reported a worse HRQoL than their health state alone warranted and this variable might need to be taken into account if the VAS is to be used to compare health states across populations. This paper provides empirical evidence of how HRQoL is perceived by different socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic and religious communities within a developing country.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Cape Town, Observatory, South Africa. jjelsma@uctgsh1.uct.ac.za
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jelsma
authors.forename: Gillian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferguson
mesh_terms: D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires