IMPACT OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES AND MORBID CONDITIONS ON PERCEIVED MENTAL HEALTH COMPONENTS USING SF-36 QUESTIONNAIRE

Abstract

Introduction: Perceived Health is a subjective assessment of the physical as well as mental health and includes so many aspects as mentioned in SF-36 form that are difficult to capture clinically such as incipient disease, physiological, psychological reserves and social functions. To assess the impact of Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension and other socio-demographic factors on the Social Functioning component of mental health of the patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Bareilly.
Material and Methods: Perceived health status of the patients was assessed by the Social Functioning dimension of the Mental Component Summary (MCS) using the SF-36 form.
Results: The presence of both Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension was associated with lower Social Functioning scores compared to those with diabetes (p = 0.013) and hypertension alone. Age was negatively related with Social Functioning scores (p less than 0.001) but male gender (p>0.000) and higher income(p less than 0.424) were all associated with higher Social Functioning scores. Rural subjects were found to have better SF score compared to urban.
Conclusion: Age, gender and morbidity was found to have profound influence on Social Functioning scoring of the subjects. However, the results should be interpreted in terms of the studys limitations.