Determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among homeless individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic

TY - JOUR

T1 - Determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among homeless individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic

AU - van Rüth, Victoria

AU - König, Hans-Helmut

AU - Bertram, Franziska

AU - Schmiedel, Pia

AU - Ondruschka, Benjamin

AU - Püschel, Klaus

AU - Heinrich, Fabian

AU - Hajek, Andre

PY - 2021/5

Y1 - 2021/5

N2 - ObjectiveTo clarify which variables are associated with the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among homeless individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.Study designCross-sectional research.MethodsData were taken from the Hamburg survey of homeless individuals (n = 151). HRQoL was assessed using the EQ-5D tool. More precisely, the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire was used to quantify problems in five health dimensions (i.e. mobility, self-care, usually activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression), and its visual analog scale (EQ-VAS) was used to record the according self-rated health status. Explanatory variables include sex, age, education, marital status, country of origin, health insurance, and chronic alcohol consumption.ResultsWith regard to HRQoL, most frequently, problems were reported as pain/discomfort (47.3%), followed by anxiety/depression (32.4%), mobility (29.7%), usual activities (20.7%) and self-care (4.6%). The mean EQ-VAS score was 75.34 (SD 22.23; range 1–100), and the mean EQ-5D-5L index was 0.84 (SD 0.23; range 0.32–1). Regressions showed increasing problems in mobility and self-care with higher age, whereas EQ-VAS was positively associated with younger age. Furthermore, EQ-5D-5L index was positively associated with younger age and higher education. Summarized, among this cohort, a higher age is associated with a lower HRQoL.ConclusionRemarkably high EQ-VAS values and rather few problems in the five dimensions investigated here were reported among the homeless individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic particularly compared with the general population. Moreover, study findings particularly stress the link between higher age and lower HRQoL among homeless individuals. This knowledge is important to address homeless individuals at risk of poor HRQoL. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm the given findings

AB - ObjectiveTo clarify which variables are associated with the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among homeless individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.Study designCross-sectional research.MethodsData were taken from the Hamburg survey of homeless individuals (n = 151). HRQoL was assessed using the EQ-5D tool. More precisely, the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire was used to quantify problems in five health dimensions (i.e. mobility, self-care, usually activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression), and its visual analog scale (EQ-VAS) was used to record the according self-rated health status. Explanatory variables include sex, age, education, marital status, country of origin, health insurance, and chronic alcohol consumption.ResultsWith regard to HRQoL, most frequently, problems were reported as pain/discomfort (47.3%), followed by anxiety/depression (32.4%), mobility (29.7%), usual activities (20.7%) and self-care (4.6%). The mean EQ-VAS score was 75.34 (SD 22.23; range 1–100), and the mean EQ-5D-5L index was 0.84 (SD 0.23; range 0.32–1). Regressions showed increasing problems in mobility and self-care with higher age, whereas EQ-VAS was positively associated with younger age. Furthermore, EQ-5D-5L index was positively associated with younger age and higher education. Summarized, among this cohort, a higher age is associated with a lower HRQoL.ConclusionRemarkably high EQ-VAS values and rather few problems in the five dimensions investigated here were reported among the homeless individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic particularly compared with the general population. Moreover, study findings particularly stress the link between higher age and lower HRQoL among homeless individuals. This knowledge is important to address homeless individuals at risk of poor HRQoL. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm the given findings

U2 - 10.1016/j.puhe.2021.02.026

DO - 10.1016/j.puhe.2021.02.026

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

VL - 194

SP - 60

EP - 66

JO - PUBLIC HEALTH

JF - PUBLIC HEALTH

SN - 0033-3506

ER -