Correlation of gender with health related-quality of life of patients in 13 groups of disease in Poland.

According to the WHO and domestic statistics, chronic diseases are one of the most common causes of disability in the Polish society, as well as in the world. The presence of the disease significantly reduces the quality of life (QoL), and gender is a factor determining the level of perceived health-related quality of life (HR-QoL), but there are no cross-sectional studies considering several disease entities. Ranking of diseases determining HR-QoL of patients in 13 different groups of disease entities by gender, assessed using the standardized tool for assessing the quality of life SF-36. A cross-sectional study was carried out in a group of 7620 patients. The criterion for inclusion in the study was a chronic disease and the lack of other comorbidities. 13 groups of disease entities were included in the study. The SF-36 questionnaire was used to assess HR-QoL. The analysis used hierarchical cluster analysis to identify disease groups that similarly impact HR-QoL levels. Logistic regression was used to assess the odds of experiencing better quality of life (OR) in the SF-36 dimensions, taking into account gender and Cohen's d was used as a measure of effect size. In the group of people burdened with chronic diseases, a better average quality of life is more often recorded in the group of men. The most significant differences in QoL are noted in thyroid (TD), renal and urinary (UD), gastrointestinal (DS) diseases. More often, the poorer quality of life of women is recorded in TD and DS (p < 0.05), in UD, the poorer quality of life is declared by men (p < 0.05). Gender significantly determines the level of perceived HR-QoL. Planning of the treatment and convalescence process in patients should consider gender differences and factors affecting HR-QoL. The ranking of diseases that most strongly reduce HR-QoL in Index Life Quality indicated that among women, diseases in the following order reduce HR-QoL most strongly: diseases of the nervous system (NS), cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancers (CD). In the men's group, the order was as follows: the most HR-QoL-lowering diseases were CD, NS and CVD.