Abstract :
Background and purpose: Health related quality of life (HQOL) has different dimensions
and many factors affect it. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between
lifestyle satisfaction and health- related quality of life in the population aged 40 year old and
over. The question is, if there is not lifestyle satisfaction, how should be the pattern of
tendency to behavioral changes?
Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study. The statistical population is the
inhabitants aged40 and over in Mazandaran province. One thousand and two hundred twenty
five subjects by stratification and clustering random sampling were selected. The data were
collected by face-to-face interview using the Persian version of the Short Form Health survey
(SF-36). SF-36 is a standard questionnaire and Persian translation is valid and reliable.
Lifestyle variable assessment includes smoking, physical activity, nutritional status, exercise
and stress. Lifestyle satisfaction, tendency to behavioral change and demographic variables
were assessed by separate questionnaire. The statistical analysis was performed by T-test and
ANOVA by SPSS.
Results: All health related quality of life components had meaningful relationship with
lifestyle satisfaction. The mean of all the components of SF-36 measurements for those who
had high lifestyle satisfaction were higher than the others (p < 0.001).The highest amount of
tendency to behavioral change was seen in nutritional status, exercise, stress control and
smoking habits.
Conclusion: According to the results, for promoting physical and mental health, lifestyle
satisfaction must be increased. Nutrition, exercise, and giving up smoking are of great
importance in physical health promotion.
