Assessment of perceived health status among primary care patients in Southern Italy: findings from a cross-sectional sur
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RESEARCH
Open Access
Assessment of perceived health status among primary care patients in Southern Italy: findings from a cross-sectional survey Benedetto Manuti, Paolo Rizza, Claudia Pileggi, Aida Bianco and Maria Pavia*
Abstract Background: The primary aim of this study was to measure HRQOL of primary care patients in one of the poorest areas of Italy, using SF-12, whereas the secondary aim was to identify subgroups of this population, according to socio-demographics, clinical characteristics, behavioural risk factors, and health services utilization, that manifest poorer HRQOL. These data may be helpful to policy makers to implement health care policies and social interventions for improving HRQOL. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Southern Italy on primary care patients aged 18 and over. SF-12 was used to measure perceived health status. Physical component and mental summary scores were obtained. We performed univariate and multivariate analysis to evaluate eventual significant differences of mean PCS-12 and MCS-12 according to various characteristics (demographics, presence of chronic diseases, behavioral risk factors, and utilization of health services). Results: Of the 1467 participating in our survey, more than one third evaluated their health as unsatisfactory, noted significant limitations and reported problems on all SF-12-scales. Physical and mental summary scores showed an overall mean of 45.9 (SD ± 10.8) and 44.9 (SD ± 11.6), respectively. Statistical analysis showed significant differences in perceived health status by socio-demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, education level and employment status, by behavioral risk factors, chronic diseases and health services utilization. Conclusions: Our findings seem to indicate that primary care patients in Southern Italy have a poor HRQOL and this perception is even poorer in subgroups of the population, according to several sociodemographic, clinical characteristics, and behavioural risk factors. These results may have significant implications for health care policymakers, since they emphasize the need of developing effective and targeted strategies to improve HRQOL in Southern Italy. Keywords: Quality of life, Mental health, Physical function, Health policy
Background Attention to perceived health status or “health related quality of life” (HRQOL) assessment has been increasing, since it represents an important component and one of the most effective strategies to evaluate quality of life, a multidimensional construct comprising physical, mental, social and economic components [1]. Many instruments are currently available to measure HRQOL, and Short-Form-12 Health Survey (SF-12) [2], * Correspondence: [email protected] Department of Health Sciences, Medical School, University of Catanzaro “Magna Græcia”, Catanzaro, Italy
is the most commonly used one. SF-12 is a short form health survey, developed as an alternative to the SF-36 [3]. SF-12 has been adopted by numerous health care delivery organizations, including the National
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