Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Faculty of Social Sciences, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.
Front Public Health. 2022 Aug 15;10:857033. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.857033. eCollection 2022.
Infection control policy affected people's wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those vulnerable populations. This study aimed to compare the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the Hong Kong (HK) Chinese population under the pandemic with the normative profiles and explore its influencing factors, including socio-demographic characteristics, loneliness, and the interaction between them.
A cross-sectional questionnaire survey (301 online and 202 in-person) was conducted between June and December 2020 among the adult Chinese population during the 2nd wave of COVID-19 in HK. HRQoL was measured by a Hong Kong validated EQ-5D-5L instrument (EQ-5D-5L HK). Loneliness was measured by a single-item question regarding the frequency of the participants reporting feeling lonely and their subjective social status was measured by the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status. A series of Tobit regressions was conducted. The interaction terms between socio-demographics and loneliness were also examined to decide their association with HRQoL.
A total of 503 responses were collected. The level of HRQoL of the respondents was significantly lower than the referred norms profile among the local general population. The findings identified that younger age, single, a higher subjective social status, and a lower level of loneliness were significantly associated with better HRQoL. Moreover, age and marital status were significant moderators in the relationship between loneliness and HRQoL.
The present study found that some population groups face additional vulnerabilities during the pandemic in terms of declined HRQoL. In addition, reducing loneliness can protect the HRQoL during the pandemic, especially among older people. This article provides useful information for policy-makers to design and promote effective services or provide education to improve the connection of people and recover from the global pandemic.
感染控制政策会影响 COVID-19 大流行期间人们的健康，尤其是弱势群体。本研究旨在比较香港（中国）人口在大流行期间的健康相关生活质量（HRQoL）与规范谱，并探讨其影响因素，包括社会人口统计学特征、孤独感以及它们之间的相互作用。
2020 年 6 月至 12 月期间，在香港 COVID-19 第二波期间，对成年香港华人进行了横断面问卷调查（301 份在线和 202 份面对面）。HRQoL 通过香港验证的 EQ-5D-5L 工具（EQ-5D-5L HK）进行测量。孤独感通过参与者报告感到孤独的频率的单项问题进行测量，他们的主观社会地位通过 MacArthur 主观社会地位量表进行测量。进行了一系列 Tobit 回归。还检查了社会人口统计学和孤独感之间的交互项，以确定它们与 HRQoL 的关系。
共收集了 503 份回复。受访者的 HRQoL 水平明显低于当地普通人群的参考规范谱。研究结果表明，年龄较小、单身、主观社会地位较高、孤独感较低与 HRQoL 较好显著相关。此外，年龄和婚姻状况是孤独感与 HRQoL 关系的重要调节因素。
本研究发现，在大流行期间，一些人群在 HRQoL 下降方面面临额外的脆弱性。此外，减少孤独感可以保护大流行期间的 HRQoL，尤其是在老年人中。本文为政策制定者提供了有用的信息，以设计和推广有效的服务或提供教育，以增进人与人之间的联系并从全球大流行中恢复。
