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Objective The appearance of the periorbital area can be improved with eyebrow permanent makeup (PMU); however, the effect is not always acceptable, and the patient may seek to remove it. This study aimed to confirm whether the removal of unsatisfactory eyebrow PMU influences quality of life, and to analyze the factors related to any improvement in quality of life after treatment. Methods The study included 75 participants recruited consecutively (mean age: 42.8 ± 10 years); all were female, with Fitzpatrick skin type I‐III, who accomplished PMU removal in one Clinic. During an initial visit, the patients indicated their demographic data, motivation, and reasons for dissatisfaction with PMU in a questionnaire and completed the WHO quality of life brief form (WHOQOL‐BREF). Two treatment modes were implemented: laser treatment or laser plus chemical remover. The WHOQOL was completed a second time at least three months after treatment. Results The most frequent cause of dissatisfaction was color (43.8%), followed by color and shape (37%), color intensity/saturation (19.2%), and shape alone (11%). Significant differences in the WHO‐1, WHO‐2, DOM‐1, and DOM‐3 domains of the WHOQOL‐BREF were found between baseline and after treatment. Conclusion Removal of unsatisfactory PMU in Caucasian women with Fitzpatrick skin types I–III resulted in significant improvements in overall quality of life and its physical and social domains. The physical aspect shows that the patients consider unwanted PMU as a physical impairment, which, although not being disabling, nevertheless affects body‐related quality of life. In addition, a significant improvement in the psychological domain was also observed after treatment.

Background Quality of life (QOL) is an important component in assessing people’s health. Environmental quality can influence people’s QOL in the physical health, psychological, social relationships and environment domains. QOL in the four domains, overall QOL and general heath of residents living in the Kowloon Peninsula of Hong Kong were assessed. The association between satisfaction with the neighborhood environment and QOL, and health-related behaviors which mediated the effect were investigated. Methods A sample of 317 residents completed a questionnaire which comprised the WHOQOL-BREF (Hong Kong version) to assess QOL, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) to study physical activities, and questions on satisfaction with the neighborhood environment, health-related behaviors and socio-demographics. One-way ANOVA and linear regression were used to study the associations between environmental satisfaction and QOL in the four domains, overall QOL and general health, followed by assessing the relationships between environmental satisfaction and the potential health-related behavior mediators with regression tests. Mediation analysis was conducted using multiple linear regressions to study the effects of environmental satisfaction on QOL in the four domains, overall QOL and general health, as well as the potential mediating roles played by various health-related behaviors. A P -value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results The residents had a relatively higher physical health mean score of 70.83 ± 12.69, and a lower environmental mean score of 61.98 ± 13.76. Moderate satisfaction with the neighborhood environment had a significant relationship with QOL in the psychological domain (β = 0.170, P  = 0.006), however, this effect was partially mediated by the non-smoking behavior of the residents (β = 0.143, P  = 0.022). Conclusions Our residents had lower QOL in the physical health and psychological domains but similar QOL in the social relationships and environmental domains compared to other countries. Only QOL in the psychological domain could be predicted by the satisfaction with the neighborhood environment, and non-smoking status was a partial mediator of the effect of moderate environmental satisfaction on QOL in the psychological domain. Refrain from smoking seems to be able to lower the influence of neighborhood environment on people’s QOL in the psychological domain to a certain extent.

Introduction: The proportion of elderly people in India has sharply increased. According to World Population Prospects 2019, the elderly population will be around 19% by 2050. Due to this, there remains a concern about the quality of life (QOL) of the elderly. There is a scarcity of knowledge about QOL and related factors influencing the elderly population, particularly in rural areas of northern India. So, this study was conducted. Aims: To study the quality of life in the elderly aged sixty years and above using WHOQOL-BREF in rural Delhi. Methods: Cross-sectional study in the community. People aged 60 and older in the study area were enrolled using simple random sampling. A total of 195 elderly people were enrolled in the study after obtaining consent. The data was imported into MS Excel and evaluated with SPSS version 25. For descriptive and inferential statistics, p-values of 0.05 were deemed statistically significant. Results: Among the 195 participants, 40.5% were men and 59.5% were women. The proportion of married elderly was 47.7% while the rest were widowed, and 47.2% of the elderly were illiterate. Out of 195 participants, 155 were living in a joint family. Physical health (60.76±11.31), Psychological (67.90±8.71), Social relationship (90.81±12.31), and Environment domain (83.23±11.59) had the highest mean WHOQOL-BREF scores. Conclusions: The QOL score was highest in the social relationship category and lowest in the physical health category. Researchers can conduct a qualitative study in the future to determine the factors affecting quality of life.

Purpose This study (a) assessed quality of life (QoL) in a patient sample with severe mental illness in an integrated psychiatric care (IC) programme in selected regions in Germany, (b) compared QoL among diagnostic groups and (c) identified socio-demographic, psychiatric anamnestic and clinical characteristics associated with QoL. Methods This cross-sectional study included severely mentally ill outpatients with substantial impairments in social functioning. Separate dimensions of QoL were assessed with the World Health Organisation’s generic 26-item quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) instrument. Descriptive analyses and analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted for the overall sample as well as for diagnostic group. Results A total of 953 patients fully completed the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. QoL in this sample was lower than in the general population (mean 34.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) 32.8 to 35.5), with the lowest QoL in unipolar depression patients (mean 30.5; 95% CI 28.9 to 32.2) and the highest in dementia patients (mean 53.0; 95% CI 47.5 to 58.5). Main psychiatric diagnosis, living situation (alone, partner/relatives, assisted), number of disease episodes, source of income, age and clinical global impression (CGI) scores were identified as potential predictors of QoL, but explained only a small part of the variation. Conclusion Aspects of health care that increase QoL despite the presence of a mental disorder are essential for severely mentally ill patients, as complete freedom from the disorder cannot be expected. QoL as a patient-centred outcome should be used as only one component among the recovery measures evaluating treatment outcomes in mental health care.

Background This study evaluated the determinants of disability and quality of life in elderly people who participated at the multi-centred RubiN project (Regional ununterbrochen betreut im Netz) in Germany. Methods Baseline data of the subjects aged 70 years and older of the RubiN project were used and only subjects with complete data sets were considered for the ensuing analysis (complete case analysis (CCA)). Disability was examined using the concepts of ADL (activities of daily living) and IADL (instrumental activities of daily living). Subjects exhibiting one or more deficiencies in ADL respectively IADL were considered as ADL respectively IADL disabled. Quality of life was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF and the WHOQOL-OLD. Applying multivariate analysis, sociodemographic factors, psychosocial characteristics as well as the functional, nutritional and cognitive status were explored as potential determinants of disability and quality of life in the elderly. Results One thousand three hundred seventy-five subjects from the RubiN project exhibited data completeness regarding baseline data. ADL and IADL disability were both associated with the respective other construct of disability, sex, a reduced cognitive and functional status as well as domains of the WHOQOL-BREF. Furthermore, ADL disability was related to social participation, while IADL disability was linked to age, education and social support. Sex, ADL and IADL disability, income, social support and social participation as well as the functional status were predictors of the domain ‘Physical Health’ (WHOQOL-BREF). The facet ‘Social Participation’ (WHOQOL-OLD) was affected by both ADL and IADL disability, income, social participation, the nutritional and also the functional status. Conclusions Several potential determinants of disability and quality of life were identified and confirmed in this study. Attention should be drawn to prevention schemes as many of these determinants appear to be at least partly modifiable.

Persisting concussion symptoms (PCS) can last for months, years, or indefinitely and affect a considerable number of concussion patients. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of clinical symptoms of anxiety and depression and the relationship between PCS and quality of life in patients examined at the Canadian Concussion Centre. The Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale-42 (DASS-42) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment–BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) were sent to 526 adult patients diagnosed with PCS. Median with interquartile range follow-up time was 5 (4–7) years. Of the 105 respondents, 35.2% displayed mild or greater symptoms of anxiety, depression, or both. Importantly, the number of previous concussions was correlated with elevations on the DASS-42 Anxiety (p = 0.030) and Depression (p = 0.018) subscale scores, suggesting an acquired cause of symptoms. Patients with clinical elevations of depression, anxiety, or both exhibited poorer mean WHOQOL-BREF scores in each domain (p < 0.001) compared to those who scored in the normal range on the DASS-42. These findings indicate that depression and anxiety in PCS can endure for years and are associated with diminished quality of life. Consequently, depression and anxiety should be identified and treated early in PCS populations in order to optimize recovery. Although the underlying etiology of depression and anxiety cannot be ascertained with certainty in the present study, the association between depression and anxiety and the number of concussions may indicate an organic explanation. In the future, quality-of-life measures should be incorporated into treatment and research in PCS to improve intervention strategies and enhance understanding of the trajectory of recovery in this population.

Background Quality of life (QOL) is a complex concept known for being influenced by socio-demographic characteristics, individual needs, perceptions and expectations. The study investigates influences of such heterogeneous variables and aims to identify and describe subgroups of older patients who share similar response patterns for the four domains (physical health, psychological health, social relationships and environment) of World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF). Methods The sample used included older Romanian patients (N = 60; equal numbers of men and women; mean age was 71.95, SD = 5.98). Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was conducted to explore quality of life profiles with the four WHOQOL-BREF domains as input variables. Differences between profiles were analysed by MANOVA and ANOVAs as a follow-up. Results The LPA results showed that the three-profile model was the most suitable and supported the existence of three distinct QOL profiles: low and very low (28.3%), moderate (63.3%) and high (8.4%). The relative entropy value was high (0.86), results pointed to a good profile solution and the three profiles differed significantly from one another. Conclusion Our results reveal heterogeneity within the older adult sample and provide meaningful information to better tailor QOL improvement programs to the needs of older patient groups, especially those designed for patients of profiles related to poorer QOL in different domains.

Background The World Health Organization’s Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-Bref) is a frequently used instrument to assess the quality of life in both healthy and ill populations. Inquiries of the psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-Bref report that the validity and reliability is generally satisfactory. However, some studies fail to support a four-factor dimensionality; others report poor reliability of the social and environmental domain; and there may be some challenges of supporting construct validity across age. This paper evaluates the psychometric properties of the Norwegian WHOQOL-Bref and extends previous research by testing for measurement invariance across age, gender and education level. In addition, we provide updated normative data for the Norwegian population. Methods We selected a random sample of the Norwegian population ( n  = 654) aged 18–75 years. Participants filled out the WHOQOL-Bref, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and various sociodemographic variables. Results We found an acceptable convergent and discriminate validity and internal consistency of the physical, psychological and environmental domains, but a marginal reliability was found for the social domain. The factor loadings were invariant across gender, education and age. Some items had low factor loadings and explained variance, and the model fit for the age group 60–75 years were less satisfactory. Conclusions The original four-factor dimensionality of the WHOQOL-Bref displayed a better fit to the data compared to the one-factor solution and is recommended for use in the Norwegian population. The WHOQOL-Bref is suitable to use across gender, education and age, but for assessment in the oldest age group, the WHOQOL-Old module could be a good supplementary, but further studies are needed.

The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world in the year 2020 has put a strain on our ability to cope with events and revolutionized our daily habits. On 9 March, Italy was forced to lockdown to prevent the spread of the infection, with measures including the mandatory closure of schools and nonessential activities, travel restrictions, and the obligation to spend entire weeks in the same physical space. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on quality of life (QoL) in a large Italian sample, in order to investigate possible differences in QoL levels related to both demographic and pandemic-specific variables. A total of 2251 Italian adults (1665 women, mainly young and middle adults) were recruited via a snowball sampling strategy. Participants were requested to answer to an online survey, which included demographic and COVID-related information items, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The results showed statistically significant differences in QoL depending on a number of variables, including sex, area of residence in Italy, and being diagnosed with a medical/psychiatric condition. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess QoL during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, therefore the present findings can offer guidelines regarding which social groups are more vulnerable of a decline in QoL and would benefit of psychological interventions.

We examined factors related to subjective quality of life (QoL) of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 25–55 (n = 60), using the World Health Organization Quality of Life measure (WHOQOL-BREF). We used three different assessment methods: adult self-report, maternal proxy-report, and maternal report. Reliability analysis showed that adults with ASD rated their own QoL reliably. QoL scores derived from adult self-reports were more closely related to those from maternal proxy-report than from maternal report. Subjective factors such as perceived stress and having been bullied frequently were associated with QoL based on adult self-reports. In contrast, level of independence in daily activities and physical health were significant predictors of maternal reports of their son or daughter’s QoL.