Relations occurring between health-related behaviour categories and quality of life made by children brought up in a children's home, in the Podlaskie Province.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the study was to determine relations between health-related behaviour categories and quality of life (QoL) categories made by children brought up in a children's home and to compare the results obtained with the results for a group of peers brought up by their own families.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study was performed on a group of 180 children living in children's homes located in Białystok, Krasne, Supraśl, Lomza, Nowa Pawłówka; and on a control group of children living with their own families in the same places where children's homes were located. The diagnostic survey method with the Health Behaviour Scale questionnaire, composed of 40 statements defining various behaviours connected with health, and the Children's Questionnaire, based on The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) was used.

RESULTS

Strong correlations between assessments of the Health Behaviour Scale categories and assessments of quality of life categories were found in the group of children living in children's homes, mostly in respect to the relation between health self-assessment and physical activity r = 0.77, mental activity r = 0.74 and environment r = 0.72, and between the physical domain and eating habits r = 0.70, and physical activity and the physical domain r = 0.69. The determination coefficient R2 for the study group had high values for three QoL categories: physical domain 71.5%, mental domain 69.7% and environment 70.1%.

CONCLUSIONS

Correlations between Health Behaviour Scale categories and QoL categories were found in the group of children living in children's homes compared to children living with their own families. The relationships for health self-assessment and the physical and mental domains and the environment, and for the physical domain and eating habits and physical activity were found.