Quality of life in the general population of Mongolia: Normative data on WHOQOL-BREF

Enkhjin Bat-Erdene; Tetsuya Hiramoto; Enkhnaran Tumurbaatar; Gantsetseg Tumur-Ochir; Otgonbold Jamiyandorj; Eiko Yamamoto; Nobuyuki Hamajima; Takakazu Oka; Tsolmon Jadamba; Battuvshin Lkhagvasuren

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0291427

Quality of life in the general population of Mongolia: Normative data on WHOQOL-BREF

PLoS One. 2023 Sep 29;18(9):e0291427. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291427. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Enkhjin Bat-Erdene^{1

2

3}, Tetsuya Hiramoto⁴, Enkhnaran Tumurbaatar^{2

3}, Gantsetseg Tumur-Ochir⁵, Otgonbold Jamiyandorj⁶, Eiko Yamamoto⁷, Nobuyuki Hamajima⁸, Takakazu Oka⁹, Tsolmon Jadamba³, Battuvshin Lkhagvasuren^{2

3

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Child Health Institute of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America.
² Brain Science Institute, Graduate School, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
³ Brain and Mind Research Institute, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
⁴ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Fukuoka National Hospital, National Hospital Organization, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁵ Department of Mental Health Surveillance, National Center for Mental Health, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
⁶ Department of Healthcare, Ulaanbaatar City Government, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
⁷ Department of Healthcare Administration, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
⁸ Kishokai Medical Corporation, Nagoya, Japan.
⁹ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare Narita Hospital, Narita, Japan.

Abstract

No data on the quality of life (QOL) of the general population are available for Mongolia. This study aimed to determine normative data on the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) in the general population of Mongolia. This nationwide, population-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in 48 sampling centers across Mongolia in 2020. We used the WHOQOL-BREF and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in our study and evaluated their associations with vital signs, body measurements, and lifestyle determinants. A total of 714 participants (261 men and 453 women) with a mean (standard deviation) age of 40.7 (13.2) years were recruited. The mean scores of WHOQOL-BREF subscales were 61.5 for physical health, 73.5 for psychological health, 70.1 for social relationship, and 67.2 for environmental health domains. The prevalence of poor QOL was 16.9% among the participants. Participants living in an apartment in urban areas with high HADS scores had a low QOL. All domains of WHOQOL-BREF were inversely correlated with anxiety score (r = -0.353 - -0.206, p < 0.001) and depression scores (r = -0.335 - -0.156, p < 0.001). Physical health was predicted by residency location, anxiety, and depression (R2 = 0.200, p < 0.001); psychological health by anxiety and depression (R2 = 0.203, p < 0.001); social relationship by residency location, age group, anxiety and depression (R2 = 0.116, p < 0.001); and environmental health by employment, anxiety, and depression (R2 = 0.117, p < 0.001). This is the first report on normative data on the QOL in the general population of Mongolia. Physical health was low compared with that determined using international data. Poor QOL was observed among those with mental health issues living in the urban areas.

Copyright: © 2023 Bat-Erdene et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Anxiety* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Mongolia / epidemiology
Quality of Life* / psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

The corresponding author, Battuvshin Lkhagvasuren, received a research grant, 200305, from the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences for this study.