Rahavard Salamat Journal

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The vulnerability of women heading households both at the individual and community levels can lead to decreased quality of life of women. Pressure caused by the single-headed life leads to reduced quality of life. Identifying problems and obstacles in the lives of head women is important in the effective control of problems. The aim of this study was to determine the four dimensions of quality of life of Women heading households Welfare Organization in the province of Tehran.

Materials and Methods: In the present descriptive-analytical study, 180 female heads of households were selected from Welfare Organization in the province of Tehran using sample size formula to estimate ratio of the phenomenon and multi-stage allocated random sampling method. The World Health Organization's quality of life questionnaire was used to gather information. The data was analyzed using the statistical software SPSS (15) at the significant level of 0.05 and descriptive (mean, standard deviation, absolute frequency, relative frequency) and analytical methods (Chi-square test, Spearman correlation co-efficient, Kruskal-wallis and ANOVA).

Results:  Mean and standard deviation of age was 43.39±8.83 and duration of householder was less than five years. Quality of life in the studied women was moderate. The highest mean score was (50.35) related to the physical aspect, and the lowest mean was (37.82) related to the environmental aspect. There were significant relationships between quality of life and marital status (p=.019), duration of householder (p=.039), duration of employment (p=.02) and wages (p=.002).

Conclusion: The quality of life of the studied women is not desirable, and design of appropriate interventions to improve their quality of life will be necessary.