Sociodemographic factors, level of physical activity and health-related quality of life in adults from the north-east of São Paulo, Brazil: a cross-sectional population study

OBJECTIVE To verify the association among sociodemographic variables, physical activity level and health-related quality of life in adults aged 20 years and over. METHODS Population-based study, with household sample by clusters. The dependent variables were the PCS and MCS scores of the instrument 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), the independent variables were gathered in sociodemographic characteristics and the level of physical activity. Absolute and relative frequency distributions were used for categorical variables and bivariate analysis, using Student's t-test and ANOVA and multivariate using non-conditional logistic regression. RESULTS Of the 600 interviewees, the mean PCS score for men was 80.2 and for women 74.6, while for MCS, 83.8 (±16.9) and 76.5 (±23.3), for men and women, respectively. Women tend to report lower scores than men in all domains: men (OR=4.83) and women (OR=4.80) were older (OR=4.34) (OR=3.57) and sedentary women (OR=1.90) were associated with lower PCS scores, while older men (OR=3.96) and widowed and separated' (OR=3.03) had lower MSC scores. CONCLUSION HRQoL was associated with advancing age and schooling, in both sexes, sedentary women and widowed and separated men.