[Factor analysis of health related quality of life in patients admitted to a short stay medical unit].
BACKGROUND
Disease and hospital admission have a great impact on the quality of life of an individual.


OBJECTIVE
To identify the factors associated with health related quality of life (HRQL) in patients admitted to a Short Stay Medical Unit (SSMU).


METHODS
Prospective cohort study of 335 patients aged 15 to 99 years (196 males) consecutively admitted to the SSMU. In all we recorded sociodemographic data, number of previous hospital admissions, admission type, main diagnosis, lenght of stay, comorbidities, the Goldberg Depression and Anxiety Scale, the Karnofsky Perfomance Scale, the Barthel Index and quality of life with the EuroQol-5D instrument. After studying the associations between variables, we carried out a factor analysis of those that were significantly related to HRQL.


RESULTS
Mean body mass index was 27.7 Kg/m(2) and 83% were emergency admissions. Heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation, acute coronary syndromes and cardiac arrhythmias, constituted 56% of all admissions. HRQL was statistically related to age, gender, educational status, caregiving situation, number of previous admissions, main diagnosis, length of stay, Goldberg scale and Karnofsky, Barthel and Charlson indexes. Factor analysis reduced the original variables to five, which explained 67.8% of the variance, as follows: Factor 1- Karnofsky and Barthel indexes (27.8%); Factor 2- age, educational status, caregiving situation (12.3%); Factor 3- the Goldberg scale (10.4%); Factor 4- admission type (8.8%); Factor 5- main diagnosis (8.4%).


CONCLUSIONS
HRQL in patients admitted to Short Stay Medical Unit is partially related to perfomance status, age, social and psychological status, admission type an the main diagnosis.
Seoane
Beatriz
B
Unidad de Corta Estancia Médica, Complexo Hospitalario, Universitario A Coruña, A Coruña, España.
de la Iglesia
Fernando
F
Nicolás
Ricardo
R
Ramos
Vicente
V
Pellicer
Carlos
C
Diz-Lois
Fernando
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult