Background and purpose: To examine the predictors of health related, quality of life in rural and urban populations. Methods: Parents and grandparents of students from 20 randomly selected primary schools in urban and rural areas of Kirikkale, Turkey were questioned for health-related quality of life (HRQL) and psychological distress, using the Short Form-12 (SF-12) Health Survey and Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS), respectively, which were returned by their children. Results: Of 13,225 parents and grandparents 12,270 returned the questionnaires, for an overall response rate of 92.7%. SF-12 physical component summary (PCS), mental component summary (MCS), and overall scores were lower in participants from rural than those from urban areas. Mean HADS overall score was higher in subjects from rural than those from urban areas (16.6±6.8 vs. 14.8±6.8, P=0.0001). A linear regression model showed associations between SF-12 overall, PCS, and MCS scores with HAD total score after adjusting for sex, age, BMI, smoking, income, and education. Conclusions: Quality of life scores in subjects vary between areas. Psychological distress in subjects in rural areas may account for the poorer scores of quality of life in rural areas.

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Depression rate is significantly higher in menopausal women.

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AAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood illness. In some patients, this illness may persist into adulthood and an association between ADHD and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) has been found in childhood. However, it is unclear how OSA and ADHD coincide in adulthood. Therefore, to explore the relationship between OSA and adult ADHD the current investigation utilized a clinically-based cross-sectional survey. Subjects consisted of 81 treatment-naïve OSA patients and 32 controls. Measures included each patient completed a questionnaire regarding sleep, Adult ADHD scale. Clinical information, body mass index, 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and polysomnography.The subjects with Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) ≥ 5 events/h were defined as patients with OSA. The control group was accepted as individuals with AHI > 0 events/h. The prevalence of adult ADHD was not different between the patients with OSA and the control group [(7.4 % (6/75) vs. 6.3 % (2/30), p = 0.8, respectively]. OSA patients with ADHD, as compared with those without, had higher anxiety scores and poorer physical component scores of quality of life and higher ESS scores. ADHD scores in patients with OSA were associated with anxiety and depression scores and SF36 physical and mental component scores in bivariate analyses. Thus, in our sample ADHD was not a frequent illness in adult patients with OSA. However, in patients with OSA and ADHD higher levels of anxiety and daytime sleepiness and poorer quality of life was found.

Present study indicated that patients with OSAS compared to snorers displayed significantly more hyopchondriasis and psychopathic deviance personality characteristics. The daytime functions in individuals with sleep-disordered breathing may be influenced by the severity of psychopathology.

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