Quality of Life of Overweight and Obese Patients

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased significantly in recent years. This is as a result of changes in dietary habits and lack of physical activity. Quality of life which measures the social, physical and psychological well-being of a person can be affected by a person’s weight. The quality of life of an individual is important in directing medical treatment and motivating patients’ behavior change and counseling adherence. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of life of overweight and obese patients. A cross-sectional study design was used. One hundred and seven obese and overweight patients with or without any other chronic diseases who reported to the diet therapy departments of two hospitals were recruited. The Short Form -36 which is a standard questionnaire for assessing quality of life was used to obtain information from the patients. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Data was summarized as means, standard deviations, frequencies, percentages and presented as tables and graphs. T-tests and correlations were used to draw relationships between variables. Results indicated that, 39% of the respondents had impaired physical quality of life as compared to 12% who were impaired mentally. Overall, 81% of the respondents had good quality of life. Majority of the respondents had role physical limitations. Comparing mental and physical health, greater percentage was impaired physically than mentally. Nevertheless, majority of the respondents had good quality of life.