Quality of life and mental health status of arsenic-affected patients in a bangladeshi population

Contamination of groundwater by inorganic arsenic is one of the major public-health problems in bangladesh. this cross-sectional study was conducted (a) to evaluate the quality of life (qol) and mental health status of arsenic-affected patients and (b) to identify the factors associated with the qol. of 1,456 individuals,521 (35.78%) were selected as case and control participants,using a systematic random-sampling method. the selection criteria for cases (n=259) included presence of at least one of the following: melanosis,leucomelanosis on at least 10% of the body,or keratosis on the hands or feet. control (nonpatient) participants (n=262) were selected from the same villages by matching age (±5 years) and gender. the bangladeshi version of the whoqol-bref was used for assessing the qol,and the self-reporting questionnaire (srq) was used for assessing the general mental health status. data were analyzed using student's r-test and analysis of covariance (ancova),and the whoqol-bref and srq scores between the patients and the non-patients were compared. the mean scores of qol were significantly lower in the patients than those in the non-patients of both the sexes. moreover,the mental health status of the arsenic-affected patients (mean score for males=8.4 and females=10.3) showed greater disturbances than those of the non-patients (mean score for males=5.2 and females=6.1) of both the sexes. the results of multiple regression analysis revealed that the factors potentially contributing to the lower qol scores included: being an arsenic-affected patient,having lower age,and having lower annual income. based on the findings,it is concluded that the qol and mental health status of the arsenic-affected patients were significantly lower than those of the non-patients in bangladesh. appropriate interventions are necessary to improve the well-being of the patients. ©international centre for diarrhoeal disease research,bangladesh.