MEASURING HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG VIETNAMESE HEALTHCARE STAFF: AN APPLICATION OF THE WHOQOL-BREF

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this paper was to measure the health-related quality of life (QOL)
among Vietnamese healthcare staff. Particularly, the study applied the World Health Organization
Quality of Life Instruments (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire as an instrument for data collection
and analysis, having divided it into four domains and assigned different items to the respective
domains. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the research instrument was the WHOQOL-BREF
questionnaire, which is an abbreviated version of the WHOQOL-100 tool. The measurement and
evaluation of the participants’ degree of satisfaction were conducted based on 24 items.
Results: The results obtained by this investigation demonstrated that, as an instrument for
assessing the QOL of healthcare staff, the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire yields reliable and
insightful outcomes. The scores obtained after administering the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire to
Vietnamese healthcare staff in various public healthcare organisations revealed that most of the
participants exhibited a moderate QOL. Throughout the country, the study further demonstrated
that the QOL among Vietnamese healthcare staff is shaped by the parameter of chronic disease.
Also, the results demonstrated a good internal consistency in relation to the WHOQOL-BREF
questionnaire, especially regarding the four domains into which the instrument was divided and
the various items tested.
Conclusion: In summary, there was an additional statistically significant relationship between chronic
disease and the four domains that were investigated. Number of years of education shaped two main
domains: environmental health and psychological health. The implication of this for Vietnam’s
healthcare system is that the QOL of healthcare staff in public health organisations might be improved
by implementing strategies aimed at minimising the prevalence of chronic disease. In so doing, the
perceived improvements in the healthcare practitioners’ QOL, which might occur in response to these
nation-wide interventions, can in turn steer improvements in the professionals’ task performance and role completion processes, hence improving the quality of the healthcare
service they deliver