Centre for Population Health (CePH), Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO) & Global Public Health, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya 47500, Malaysia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Nov 24;17(23):8731. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17238731.
Quality of life (QOL) is a proxy of health and social well-being. Hence, it is vital to assess QOL as it informs the strategies of policymakers to enhance the living conditions in communities. Rural areas in emerging economies are underserved in terms of modern facilities and technologies, which impact QOL. To address this, this study investigated whether income played a role in the QOL of rural residents within emerging economies using a large survey of Malaysian adults above 18 years old. The study extracted data from a sample of 18,607 respondents of a health and demographic surveillance system survey. A generalized linear model was used to estimate the impact of three income groups, the bottom 40%, middle 40% and top 20%, on perceived QOL, controlling for sociodemographic, chronic disease co-morbidities and mental health status. Results of the study showed a statistically significant association between income and the physical, psychological, social and environmental QOL domains. Using the bottom 40% as a reference category, the middle 40% and top 20% income groups showed a significant and positive association across the four domains of QOL. Hence, intervention programs are necessary to escalate the income levels of rural communities, especially the bottom 40%, to uplift perceived QOL among rural residents.
生活质量（QOL）是健康和社会福祉的代理指标。因此，评估生活质量至关重要，因为它为政策制定者提供了改善社区生活条件的策略信息。新兴经济体的农村地区在现代设施和技术方面服务不足，这影响了生活质量。为了解决这个问题，本研究调查了收入是否在新兴经济体农村居民的生活质量中发挥了作用，使用了对 18 岁以上马来西亚成年人的大型调查。该研究从健康和人口监测系统调查的 18607 名受访者样本中提取数据。使用广义线性模型来估计三个收入组（底部 40%、中间 40%和顶部 20%）对感知生活质量的影响，同时控制社会人口统计学、慢性疾病合并症和心理健康状况。研究结果表明，收入与身体、心理、社会和环境生活质量领域之间存在统计学上显著的关联。以底部 40%为参考类别，中间 40%和顶部 20%的收入群体在生活质量的四个领域均表现出显著的正相关关系。因此，需要实施干预计划来提高农村社区，特别是底部 40%群体的收入水平，以提升农村居民的感知生活质量。
