ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Ahmadi   S. (*)
Firoozi   M.R. (1)






(*) Sociology Department, Human Sciences Faculty, Yasouj University, Yasuj, Iran
(1) Psychology Department, Human Sciences Faculty, Yasouj University, Yasuj, Iran

Correspondence

Article History

Received:  September  6, 2016
Accepted:  December 10, 2016
ePublished:  February 24, 2017

BRIEF TEXT


… [1, 2]. Quality of life is not only having the material facilities and benefits, but it also includes mental health, safety, leisure, healthy social relations, happiness, and inner satisfaction [3, 4]. Limited studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of services provided by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, indicating that the quality of life of veterans is declining [5, 6].

…. [7-18]. In the form of hierarchical needs theory, Mazlo regards biological needs as the basis of formation of other needs, without which life would not have an acceptable quality [19]. Other researchers have pointed out the physical needs, such as nutritious food and freshwater, proper housing conditions, safe work environment, adequate income, and proper health care, clearly emphasizing the role of material facilities and services as the infrastructure of quality of life [20, 21]. A study conducted on chemically injured individuals demonstrated their declined quality of life [5], which was affected by the nature of their disease, concept of health, and adjustment factors [22]. … [23-25].

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs services and veterans’ quality of life.

This was a cross-sectional correlation research.

This research was conducted on veterans (disabled individuals and freed prisoners) of Shiraz, Iran, in 2012.

In total, 383 veterans were randomly selected through systematic sampling.

… [26]. Study tool was the quality of life scale by the World Health Organization (WHO) [27], which is comprised of four dimensions, including physical, mental, social, and environmental health. This scale was first used by Nejat et al. [28] in Iran, and its psychometric properties were measured. In addition, reliability of this tool was estimated at the Cronbach’s alpha of 0.77, 0.77, 0.75, and 0.84 for physical, mental, social, and environmental health, respectively. Another tool applied in this research was a researcher-made questionnaire containing three dimensions of housing status, livelihoods, and health, which evaluated the utilization of services provided by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs. Content validity was also approved through obtaining the opinions of ten experts of this area. In the primary study conducted on 38 individuals of the study population, correlation of internal consistency was equal to 0.63 between services used by veterans according to their files at the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs and what has been stated in the questionnaire. Moreover, reliability of the questionnaire was estimated at 0.72, 0.58, and 0.65 for housing, leisure, and health services, respectively, conducting a retest on the same population. Statistical Analysis: Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 19 using Pearson’s correlation coefficient to evaluate the correlation coefficient of the variables. In addition, structural equation modeling with the help of LaserLayer software was used to predict the quality of life, and Chi-square test was carried out to assess the fitness of the model.

From the total of veterans, 1% had <25% disability, whereas 85% and 15% had 25%–49% and >50% disability, respectively. The mean age of the participants was 52.7±7.7 years, and mean years of their education was 11.5±3.8 years. In terms of marital status, 365 (95.3%) veterans were married and 18 (4.7%) cases were single. In addition, 35 (9.1%) had disability <25%, 241 (62.9%) individuals had 25%–49% disability, and 107 (27.9%) of the participants had >50% disability. Regarding the occupational status of the participants, 115 (30%) individuals were employed by the government, 55 (14.4%) cases were employed by the private sector, 159 (41.5%) were retired, 51 (13.3%) were self-employed, and 3 (0.8%) were unemployed. According to the standardized scores (4–20 scores), the mean subscale of quality of life was 11.4±2.0, 11.7±2.2, 12.5±3.2, and 11.8±2.3 for physical, mental, social, and environmental health, respectively. According to the results, a reverse and significant relationship was observed between the quality of life of individuals and utilization of services provided by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs and healthcare services. Nevertheless, no significant association was found between the utilization of housing and leisure services and quality of life (Table 1). The structural model of the evaluated variables is presented in Figure 1. In addition, fitness of the model [32] was confirmed with regard to the conducted evaluations (χ2=50.2; AGFI=0.092; GFI=0.96; RMSEA=0.086; p<0.001). This model is defined using four variables of physical, mental, social, and environmental health and utilization of the services of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs and three variables of leisure, housing, and health. Numbers entered in the rectangles from two sides are indicative of each of the subscales (being impacted by external factors). Level of impact of each subscale in its own area (factor load) is demonstrated with flashes added from the inside, all of which are >0.3 and indicative of the association of variables with each other. Coefficient of utilization of services on the quality of life was –0.18 (t=2.8), which demonstrated how much change occurs in the quality of life per each change in the level of utilization of services. In addition, error level of quality of life variable was 0.96, which indicated that a significant part of change in the quality of life of veterans was due to variables other than the utilization of services provided by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs.

… [29]. Increased economic facilities cannot necessarily help the quality of life and its dimensions (i.e., physical, mental, social, and environmental health). Evaluation of the relationship between utilization of healthcare services of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs and decreased quality of life with control of disability percentage variable indicated that the adverse relationship between the two variables was due to 25%–50% of disability, and the negative relationship of the two variables in the group of veterans was below 25% disability, and no veteran with <50% disability was observed. This might be due to lack of access of veterans with 25%–50% disability to some healthcare services since the majority of treatment services are related to veterans with >50% disability. According to the theory of Davis [30], individuals of each society have special needs and expectations, and governments try to meet these needs. However, in 2012, one of the most unprecedented rates of inflation in the post-Islamic era was formed in Iran, during which the quality of life of the walk of life, which depends on the government, declined. From an organizational perspective and according to the theory of Herzberg [31, 32] regarding the behavior of employees in organizations and causes of their happiness and lack of happiness, supplying material conditions for individuals as health or maintenance factors does not necessarily increase satisfaction but can merely reduce dissatisfaction. In order to obtain the satisfaction of individuals, organizations must pay special attention to motivational factors (e.g., success, recognition, accountability, and possibility of growth and improvement).

With regard to the positive and significant relationship between the level of education and quality of life, it is recommended that the control of this variable and neutralizing its effects be emphasized in further studies.

Basically, memory power of individuals is used in evaluation of services, some of which are related to previous years, and it is possible that some of the respondents were not able to remember them. On the other hand, despite the fact that the society of veterans is not that broad, their recorded data are not updates, which caused lack of access to veterans who were selected from the list in various cases, which led to finding alternatives.

Use of housing, leisure, and health services of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs had no significant impact on the dimensions of quality of life of veterans in Shiraz.

Hereby, we extend our gratitude to the authorities of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, who cooperated with the research.

None declared by the authors.

All data were collected after receiving the satisfaction of participants.

This research was financially supported by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of Fars province.

TABLES and CHARTS

Show attach file


CITIATION LINKS

[1]Phillips D. Quality of life: Concept, policy and practice. London: Routledge; 2006.
[2]Costanza R. Quality of life: An approach integrating opportunities, human needs and subjective well-being. Ecol Econ. 2007;61(2-3):267-76.
[3]Schalock RL. The concept of quality of life: What we know and don’t know. J Intellect Disabil Res. 2004;48(Pt 3):203-16.
[4]Hagerty MR, Cummins RA, Abbott LF, Kennethland AC, Michalos M, Peterson A, et al. Quality of life indexes for national policy: Review and agenda for research. Soc Indic Res. 2001;55(1):1-96.
[5]Mahdizadeh S, Salaree M, Ebadi A, Aslan J, Jafari, N Health-related quality of life in chemical warfare victims with bronchiolitis obliterans. Iran J Nurs Res. 2011;6(21):6-14. [Persian]
[6]Panahi Y, Davoodi M, Naghizadeh MM, Sadr B, Mohammadi Monfared M, et al. Dermatology related quality of life in sulfur mustard exposed veterans. J Behav Sci. 2008;2(3):237-44. [Persian]
[7]Coverdill JE, López CA, Petrie MA. Race, ethnicity and the quality of life in America, 1972-2008. Soc Forces. 2011;89(3):783-806.
[8]Zokaei MS, Roshanfekr P. Relationship between social capital and quality of life in urban areas. J Soc Sci. 2005;22(32):1-37. [Persian]
[9]Arinez I. The development of a quality of life index at a county level: Quality of life index for Arkansas counties (QLAC) [Dissertation]. Arkansas: University of Arkansas; 2009.
[10]Pacione M. Urban environmental quality and human well being--A social geographical perspective. Landsc Urban Plann. 2003;65(1-2):19-30.
[11]Fahy F, Cinnéide MO. Developing and testing an operational framework for assessing quality of life. Environ Impact Assess Rev. 2008;28(6):366-79.
[12]Malkoc A. Quality of life and subjective well-being in undergraduate students. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2006;15:2843-7.
[13]Camfield L, Skevington SM. On subjective well-being and quality of life. J Health Psychol. 2008;13(6):764-75.
[14]Li G, Weng Q. Measuring the quality of life in city of Indianapolis by integration of remote sensing and census data. Int J Remote Sens. 2007;28(2):249-67.
[15]Zhao B. Perceptions of quality of life and use of human services by households: A model [Dissertation]. Kentucky: University of Kentucky; 2004.
[16]Shek DTL, Chan YK, Lee PS. Quality of life in the global context: A Chinese response. Soc Indic Res. 2005;71(1):1-10.
[17]Noghani M, Asgharpour AR, Safa Sh, Kermani M. The quality of life and its relation with social capital in the city of Mashhad. Soc Sciences J. 2008;5(1):111-40. [Persian]
[18]Faraji Mallaei A, Azimi A, Ziari K. Analysis of the dimension of the quality of life in the urban areas of Iran. Res Urban Plann. 2010;1(2):1-16. [Persian]
[19]Maslow AH. Motivation and personality. NewYork: Harper and Row; 1954.
[20]Ghaffari GR, Omidi A. Quality of life as a social development indicator. Tehran: Shirazeh Pulication; 2009. [Persian]
[21]Tambyah SK, Tan SJ, Kau AK. The quality of life in Singapore. Soc Indic Res. 2009;92:337-76.
[22]Ebadi A, Ahmadi F, Ghanei M, Kazemnejad A. Concept and quality of life construct elements in chemical injured: A qualitative study. J Mil Med. 2010;12(1):7-12. [Persian]
[23]Amini R, Haghaei H, Masoumi M. Quality of life in blind war survivors. Iran J War Public Health. 2009;1(2):24-35. [Persian]
[24]Tavallaei A, Habibi M, Asari Sh, Ghanee M, Naderi Z, Khateri Sh, et al. Quality of life in chemical victims 15 years after exposure to mustard gas. J Behav Sci. 2007;1(1):17-25. [Persian]
[25]Brahmani G, Abed Saeidi J, Kheiri AA. Study of quality of life among Sardasht chemical bombardment damage. Med J Tabriz Univ Med Sci. 2004;38(62):9-13. [Persian]
[26]Morgan DW, Krijcie RV. Determining sample size for research activities. Educ Psychol Meas. 1970;30(3):607-10.
[27]World Health Organization. WHOQOL-BREF: introduction, administration, scoring and generic version of the assessment. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1996.
[28]Nejat S, Montazeri A, Holakooei K, Mohammad K, Majdzadeh R. The World Health Organization quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire: Translation and validation study of the Iranian version. J Sch Public Health Inst Public Health Res. 2006;4(4):1-12. [Persian]
[29]MacCallam RC, Browne MW, Sugawara HM. Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychol Methods. 1996;1(2):130-49.
[30]Davis JC. Toward a theory of revolution. Am Soc Rev. 1962;27(1):5-19.
[31]Robbins S. Organizational behavior. San Diego: Prentice Hall; 1996.
[32]Moorhead G, Griffin W. Organizational behavior. Austrailia: CENGAGE Learning; 2004.