Health related quality of life in the female-headed households

Background and aims: According to psychological research female-headed households have a lot of physical and mental problems because they experience stress and anxiety more than the other women in general population. The aim of this study was to determine the quality of life and the associated factors in female-headed households under the Welfare Organization coverage of Ilam Province. Methods: In this descriptive analytical study, 787 female-headed households under the Welfare Organization coverage of Ilam in urban and rural in Ilam province participated in this study. Systematic random sampling was used as a sampling method. A validated questionnaire (SF-36) completed in a six-month interval and then the data were collected and analyzed. Results: From 787 female-headed households contributing to the project, the numbers of missing subjects were 79 and 708 of the subjects completed the questionnaires (response rate 89.9%). Mean ± SD age of participants was 53.3±19.18. The results of this study showed an unfavorable health related quality of life in female-headed households spatially in role–physical (mean score 48.06) and mental health (mean score 40.80) demission. We found that having the chronic disease and living in rural area were associated with an unfavorable health related quality of life (P≤0.001). Conclusion: According to the results, the most important reason affecting the quality of life in female-headed households is low level of illiteracy and having a chronic illness.