Study on the correlation between depression and quality of life for Korean women

Korean women have many experiences of the negative impacts caused by changes in biological, psychological and socioeconomic environments. Therefore, they often have unique health problems that require specific attention. In particular, depression is a health problem that severely impacts on quality of life for women. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between depression and quality of life for Korean women. The subjects of the study were 474 women (20-60 years) living in Seoul and were chosen by convenient sampling from 12 March to 18 April 2000. The data were collected by a structured questionnaire that included general characteristics, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the SmithKline Beecham 'Quality of Life' Scale. The data were analyzed by the SAS 6.12 program, which included descriptive statistics: t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient. The mean score of depression was 18.5 (range: 4-52), and the mean score of the quality of life was 153.7 (range: 65-230). In the general characteristics, there was a statistically significant difference in the degree of depression according to education (F=5.62, P=0.0009), marital status (F=9.20, P=0.0001), family structure (F=3.97, P=0.0036), level of income (F=10.79, P=0.0001), type of job (F=2.99, P=0.0191), stressors in the job (F=2.56, P=0.0198) and sexual activity (F= -2.56, P=0.0109). As for the general characteristics, there was a statistically significant difference in the degree of the total score for quality of life according to education (F=5.24, P=0.0015), level of income (F=11.15, P=0.0001), employment status (F=2.23, P=0.0268), job satisfaction (F=4.42, P=0.0155) and stressors in the job (F=2.62, P=0.0174). Significantly, there was a negative relationship between depression and quality of life (gamma= -0.5984, P=0.0001). The most significant negative relationship among the five factors of quality of life was between depression and the psychological well-being factor (gamma= -0.5708, P=0.0001). In conclusion, the results of this study will contribute to the development of a nursing intervention program for decreasing depression, preventing depression and promoting quality of life for Korean women.