Disentangling cultural issues in quality of life data.
OBJECTIVE
To describe a process for understanding ethnic differences in health-related quality of life (HRQL).


METHODS
Analyses are based on the baseline data from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multiethnic longitudinal study of women transitioning through menopause. There were a total of 3,302 women aged 42 to 52 entered into the cohort, which included white, African American, Hispanic, Chinese, and Japanese women enrolled at seven sites in the United States. Five domains from the Medical Outcomes Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) were used to measure HRQL. Acculturation was assessed by language of questionnaire completion. Covariates included socioeconomic status, sociodemographics, health, lifestyle, and social circumstances. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between acculturation and HRQL.


RESULTS
Previous unadjusted analyses found ethnic differences on all five domains of the SF-36. However, ethnic differences largely disappeared after adjusting for covariates. Remaining differences showed that less acculturated Hispanic women reported more bodily pain and more impaired social functioning than non-Hispanic white women. Less acculturated Japanese women were less likely to report problems on the role-emotional scale.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of ethnic differences in HRQL could be explained by covariates. These findings highlight the importance of controlling for differences in sample characteristics in any multiethnic study.
Avis
Nancy E
NE
Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1063, USA. navis@wfubmc.edu
Colvin
Alicia
A
D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008593:Menopause / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology