[Health-related quality of life of the Hungarian population].

AIMS: The objective of this study was to measure the health-related quality of life of the Hungarian general population. The quality of life survey was part of the National Health Survey (Országos Lakossági Egészségfelmérés, OLEF) conducted in year 2000 on a representative sample of 5503 members of the general population.
RESULTS: Showed that, among the five health-related quality of life dimensions measured by the EQ-5D questionnaire, pain/discomfort had the highest (38%) prevalence. More than 60% of the population over 60 years of age suffer from pain or discomfort. In international comparison, anxiety/depression also had high prevalence in Hungary when compared to other developed countries. More than third of the Hungarian adult population today is depressed or suffer from anxiety. The analysis also highlighted the important association between socio-economic factors and health-related quality of life. According to the applied model, older age, being female, lower education, and lower income are the main determinants of worse health-related quality of life. When quality of life is measured on a 0-100 scale, each additional life year is associated with a decrease of 0.4 units of quality of life, being female is associated with 3 units lower quality of life. Each 10,000 Ft increase in mean household income improves quality of life with 0.5 unit. People with higher education have 5 units higher quality of life than those below medium level education.
CONCLUSION: Findings of this study provide important baseline data for future burden of illness, health economic, and health policy analyses in Hungary.