Quality of Life for Patients in Medical-Surgical Wards

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of life (QoL) for patients in medical-surgical wards in Jordanian hospitals. A cross-sectional design was performed. The data were collected between January and April 2011 through individual interviews (n = 746) using the Medical Outcome Study 36-item Short-Form (MOS-SF-36) and Charlson's Co-morbidity Index (CCI). The private and public hospitals in the three largest cities in Jordan were represented. The MANOVA test was used to examine the health status based on patients' co-morbidity level. The results showed that QoL for patients with severe co-morbidity has been affected negatively in many aspects more than both patients with no co-morbidity and patients with mild co-morbidity. However, although it is difficult to change the demographic characteristics, it is possible to improve the health status of patients with multiple co-morbidities, which will result in having a better QoL.