Health-Related Quality of Life Measured by SF-36 in Iranian Nurses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Nurses are the largest group in the health care system. They should have a good quality of life to be able to provide patients with high-quality care. The aim of the present study was to investigate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among Iranian nurses. Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, a systematic search was conducted in 2018 for Persian and English articles on the nurses’ quality of life published in the Scientific Information Database (SID), MagIran, Google Scholar, ISI/Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. The Cochrane Q test and I2 test statistic were used to test heterogeneity between studies. Because of heterogeneity, the data were analyzed using the random and fixed-effects models. All analyses were performed using stata, version 14. Results: Overall, 13 articles with a total sample size of 4274 patients were included in the analysis. The mean HRQoL score of Iranian nurses was 60.52 (95% CI: 57.10 - 63.93). The mean score of the physical dimension of HRQoL (63.34 with 95% CI: 57.98 - 68.71) was higher than the score of psychological dimension (60.72 with 95% CI: 57.80 - 63.64) in Iranian nurses. The results of the meta-regression analysis showed no significant association between the total HRQoL score and the nurses’ age (P = 0.973) and the sample size (P = 0.12). Conclusions: The HRQoL of Iranian nurses is not very good. It seems necessary to develop strategies aimed at improving the HRQOL of Iranian patients, especially their physical domain.