Health and quality of life: Situation of the population of Tetouan (Morocco)

Introduction: The diagnosis of the health status of the population and its needs, especially from the population's view point, is a useful approach to the development of health policies. This approach is possible by Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) studies. However, few studies of this type have been conducted in Morocco. The objective of this study was to evaluate the health-related quality of life as a function of gender and age in the population of Tetouan city in northern Morocco. Methods: A survey was conducted on a sample of 385 subjects over the age of 16 years living in Tetouan by applying the Duke Health Profile. Results: The results show that scores for perceive health dimensions were relatively high (physical health) to low (mental and social health). Dysfunction scores were also non-negligible. Women had a significantly more negative perception of their health at all levels except for the social health, perceived health, self-esteem and inability dimensions. Conclusion: Age did not influence the perception of health for the physical, social, and general health dimensions, or depression and pain. However, special attention should be paid to subjects over the age of 55 who presented significantly lower mean scores for several dimensions, and young people under 25 who presented the lowest social health scores.