Quality of life among community health workers in the districts of Koppal, Raichur and Mysore, Karnataka State, India

Abstract

Aim: To explore the Quality of life among the community health workers and its association with the socio-demographic variables. Subject and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 739 Community Health Workers (CHWs), where a multistage random sampling technique was used and three districts were selected based on the proportion of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) in the districts of Karnataka. “WHOQOL-BREF” was used along with a Sociodemographic profile to determine the Quality of Life (QoL) among the CHWs. Multivariate regression models, T-test and ANOVA tests were used for the analysis. Results: The overall Quality of life mean ± SD was 3.4 ± 0.95. Domain-wise social relationship was found to be highest with a mean ± SD of 66.5 ± 21.7 and Environmental domain was found to be the least with a mean ± SD of 48.6 ± 16.6. The Multivariate regression models reveal that education up to primary level, an individual income of INR 5000 and more, and family income of INR 15000 to 40000 contribute to the higher score, whereas total family members of 5–8, age 25 to 44, and education of secondary schooling, PUC/diploma contribute to the lower scores of QoL. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that CHWs had neither good nor bad quality of life. And there is a need to improve physical and environmental factors such as job satisfaction, population coverage, better income, physical safety, good working environment, better transportation facilities which can improve the QoL among CHWs.

Keywords

• WHOQOL-BREF
• Quality of life
• ASHAs
• HIOs
• PHCOs