Health-Related Quality of Life, Depression and BMI in Korean Adults

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze correlation among HR-QoL, depression, and BMI; and ultimately to investigate if BMI could be a variable for determining HR-QoL and depression. This study performed a secondary analysis of the KNHANES data for 2016 and 2018. This study was designed to analyze for correlations among HR-QoL, depression and BMI. A complex sample Chi-square test and complex sample general linear model (CSGLM) were conducted using SPSS program. There was no difference for male and female in the correlation between BMI and HR-QoL. However, there was a statistically significant difference in their depression by BMI (Men: Wald F=3.22, p=0.023; Women:  Wald F=3.30, p=0.021). Among demographic and health-related characteristics, the variables that affected Korean mens depression were age (p=0.021), marital status (p<0.001), perceived health status (p<0.001), perceived usual stress (p<0.001), and their HR-QoL (p<0.001). This study showed that variables affecting the depression for Korean women were age (p<0.001), residential area (p=0.008), household income (p=0.013), occupation (p=0.001), perceived health status (p<0.001), perceived usual stress (p<0.001), perceived body image (p=0.039), BMI (p=0.014), and HR-QoL (p<0.001). The increase in correlational variables among Korean women is indicative of more potential depression triggers compared to Korean men. This study found that BMI was not the sole variable that affected HR-QoL but demonstrated that BMI was related to depression for both men and women.