Quality of life of physicians and their patients.

Background. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life (QOL) of healthy physicians and their patients in the context of an orthopedic department. Material and methods. Two groups of men participated in anonymous surveys. The first group included orthopaedic surgeons (n = 50) ranging in age from 26 to 55 years (mean 38.6 +/- 8); the second group consisted of patients (n = 53) ranging in age from 22 to 70 years (mean 44.9 +/- 12.7). An original questionnaire consisting of 41 questions was used. The results we obtained were analyzed by the Canberra method, and then by the U Mann-Whitney (Wilcoxon) test. Results. Statistical analysis of the results identified the two most important common factors for QOL: 1) health and social relationships, and 2) work and life satisfaction. Education and profession had no impact on QOL, but self-esteem was important. Salary did not have a major influence on QOL. Nevertheless, those men who assessed their financial situation as poor also assessed their QOL as lower. Job satisfaction and good relationships with co-workers were important factors influencing QOL. The medical diagnosis described the health condition of patients as more serious than did the patients themselves in subjective evaluations. QOL had minimal connection to alcohol use and smoking. Conclusions. For the physicians, objective factors had less important for QOL, wherewas higher aspirations and incompletely satisfied needs were crucial. The patients more highly valued their lives in both family and material aspects; the illness had caused them to examine their values.