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Health-related quality of life for First Nations and Caucasian women in the First Nations Bone Health Study.

ABSTRACT: Studies about the health of Indigenous (i.e., original inhabitants) populations often focus on chronic diseases and risk behaviors, emphasizing physical aspects of health. Our objective was to test for differences in self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL), which provides a multidimensional and holistic perspective on health, between First Nations (one group of Indigenous peoples) and Caucasian women. Data were from the First Nations Bone Health Study, conducted in the Canadian province of Manitoba. HRQOL was measured using the validated Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). It captures respondent's perceptions of eight health domains, as well as overall mental and physical health components.Analyses were conducted for 707 participants of which 47.4% were of First Nations origin. First Nations respondents had significantly lower unadjusted scores (p < 0.05) than Caucasian respondents on all SF-36 dimensions, except bodily pain and vitality. They also had significantly lower overall mental health scores. After adjusting for multiple determinants of health (e.g., age, education, substance use), differences were no longer statistically significant, except for the social functioning and role emotional domains and overall mental health component. Complex cultural factors are likely responsible for the persistent mental health inequalities experienced by First Nations women.

SUBMITTER: Tennenhouse LG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5738740 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Health-related quality of life for First Nations and Caucasian women in the First Nations Bone Health Study.

Tennenhouse Lana G LG Leslie William D WD Lix Lisa M LM

BMC research notes 20171220 1

<h4>Objective</h4>Studies about the health of Indigenous (i.e., original inhabitants) populations often focus on chronic diseases and risk behaviors, emphasizing physical aspects of health. Our objective was to test for differences in self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL), which provides a multidimensional and holistic perspective on health, between First Nations (one group of Indigenous peoples) and Caucasian women. Data were from the First Nations Bone Health Study, conducted in ...[more]

PMID: 29262844

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Project description:BackgroundThe Kuwaiti perspective on quality of life (QOL) in breast cancer is important because it adds the contribution from a country where the disease affects women at a relatively younger age and seems to be more aggressive. We used the EORTC QLQ - C30 and its breast-specific module (BR-23) to highlight the health-related QOL of Kuwaiti women with breast cancer, in comparison with the international data, and assessed the socio-demographic and clinical variables that predict the five functional scales and global QOL (GQOL) scale of the QLQ - C30.MethodsParticipants were consecutive clinic attendees for chemotherapy, in stable condition, at the Kuwait Cancer Control Center.ResultsThe 348 participants were aged 20-81 years (mean 48.3, SD 10.3); 58.7% had stages III and IV disease. Although the mean scores for QLQ - C30 (GQOL, 45.3; and five functional scales, 52.6%-61.2%) indicated that the patients had poor to average functioning, only 5.8% to 11.2% had scores that met the < or = 33% criterion for problematic functioning, while 12.0% to 40.0% met the >66% criterion for more severe symptoms. Most (47.8%-70.1%) met the >66% criterion for "good functioning" on the BR-23 functional scales. The mean scores of the QLQ - C30 indicated that, despite institutional supports, Kuwaiti women had clinically significantly poorer global QOL and functional scale scores, and more intense symptom experience, in comparison with the international data (i.e., < or = 10% difference between groups). For the BR-23, Kuwaiti women seemed to have clinically significantly better functional scale scores, but more severe symptoms, especially systemic side effects and breast symptoms. Younger women had poorer HRQOL scores. In regression analysis, social functioning accounted for the highest proportion of variance for GQOL.ConclusionThe relatively high number that met the criterion for good functioning on the functional scales is an evidence base to boost national health education about psychosocial prognosis in cancer. In view of the poor performance on the symptom scales, clinicians treating Kuwaiti women with breast cancer should prepare them for the acute toxicities of treatment and address fatigue. The findings call for the institution of a psycho-oncology service to address psycho-social issues.

Dataset Information

Health-related quality of life for First Nations and Caucasian women in the First Nations Bone Health Study.

Publications

Health-related quality of life for First Nations and Caucasian women in the First Nations Bone Health Study.

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