Background and Objective

1. Quality of Life of Wives Is Associated with Health Risk Behaviors of Their Husbands Li-Yao Wu1, Pau-Chung Chen11Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, National Taiwan University College of Public Health Numerous epidemiologic studies have revealed certain elements of risk behaviors (such as cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, and betel nut chewing) that seem to be risk factors for many diseases. Except betel nut chewing and alcohol drinking, a great number of studies derived from clinic-based or hospital-based samples have indicated a positive correlation between cigarette smoking and lower quality of life (QOL). While considerable attention has been paid in the past to research issues related to self-smoking or self-drinking, no research has been done on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of wives with betel nut chewing, smoking, or drinking husbands. This study aimed to describe and evaluate the QOL of wives with/without smoking husbands, and explore whether the association is similar among wives with husbands who, in addition to cigarette smoking, also use tobacco or betel nut. Table 1. The wife’s sociodemographic characteristics and her husband’s drug-related experiences in the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study, 2005 Figure 1. The wife’s SF-36 scores of different groups among her husband’s smoking quantity Table 2. Estimated interactions between husband’s smoking quantity and other two substances with their wives’ eight scales of SF-36. Background and Objective Material and Methods Subjects were 18,921 wives collected as part of the Taiwan Birth Cohort study (TBCS). Since July 2005 TBCS research involved a survey, comprised of two set of questions concerning infants’ health related factors and parents’. Subjects underwent a home interview 6 months after their deliveries. Recent smoking, drinking, betel nut chewing, other experiences and confounders were assessed by face to face interview. The HRQOL measure (Short Form 36 [SF-36]) was used to measure wives’ generic health status. Student t-test and a series of linear regression analyses were performed to examine husbands’ substances abused behaviors which grouped into four status in relationship to domain-specific health status scores of their wives. Results and Discussion • About Wives’ HRQOL： • Wives whose husbands with recent tobacco use the more tend • to experience the poorer level of health related quality of life. • The more cigarettes that their husbands use per day, the • more apparent that the situation with bad health status is. • Among husbands, if smoking combined with betel nut chewing • and alcohol drinking, their wives’ HRQOL might go worse. • Abscission of the effect of tobacco use, whether the husband • having the behavior of drink or not becomes the important key • factor effecting wives’ performances on SF-36 scores. Conclusion Wives whose husbands with recent tobacco use, alcohol drinking or betel nut chewing tend to have a greater potential for being distressed, as indexed by the SF-36. Corresponding author’s e-mail: pchen@ntu.edu.tw; First author’s e-mail: r96841010@ntu.edu.tw OMIH