Gender-based profiling of Quality of Life (QOL) of primary health care (PHC) attendees in central Uganda: a cross sectional analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze gender differences in QOL of patients presenting at PHC centres and to identify the socio-demographic variables associated with poor QOL.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. Consecutive adult patients at outpatient departments of three PHC centres were eligible. Those selected were interviewed using the WHOQOL-BREF, a 26-item questionnaire generating four domain scores of physical, psychological, environment and social relationships.
RESULTS: The study had 446 respondents aged 18-84 years. Female parents significantly performed poorly on the physical health domain (OR 2.47: 95 % CI: 1.32 - 4.61). Respondents reported comparable scores on the 3 WHOQOL-BREF domains, except on poor physical health where being a parent had a positive association (OR 2.12; 95% CI: 1.27 - 3.55). Belonging to an age-range of 18-29 years had a positive association with poor physical health (OR 1.74; 95% CI: 1.13 - 2.68).
CONCLUSION: Generally, women reported poorer physical health. Health workers need orientation and training to appreciate the role of gender in health care. There is need to appreciate the complexities affecting QOL of women that are physically ill. Interventions aimed at improving patients' QOL at PHC centres should take a gender-based perspective that recognizes the greater vulnerability of women to poor physical health.