Quality of life and its predictors among Pakistani head of household in district Abbottabad, Pakistan

This study aimed to measure the quality of life (QOL) and its predictors among male and female heads of household in Pakistan. A population-based cross-sectional study in all 52 Union Councils of District Abbottabad, Pakistan was conducted from March 2015 to August 2015. Multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used to enroll 747 head of household from the study sample. Quality of life was assessed through standardized and validated Urdu version of World Health Organization’s quality of life instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) and Social capital was assessed through World Bank Social Capital Questionnaire (SC-IQ). Descriptive and inferential analyses were done to measure the levels of QOL domains. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were developed to explore the association between the presence of a better QOL domain and other socio-demographic factors among heads of household in Pakistan. Mean scores (± standard deviation) for physical, psychological, social relationship and environmental health domain were 64.21 ± 15.37, 67.75 ± 14.76, 72.37 ± 16.74 and 55.50 ± 14.56 respectively among the Pakistani heads of households. Overall QOL score for all domains was 64.96 ± 12.07. Males had higher score in psychological, social and environmental domains than female heads (p < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, we found that urban residence, married, absence of diseases, employed and better social capital were significantly associated with one or more domains of QOL. Our study was first of its kind which assessed the QOL among heads of household and laid the foundation for further research in this grey area.