Health, Spirituality and Medical Ethics

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Quality of working life (QWL) is an important issue and examination of the spects that can affect it causes promotion of individual and organizational productivity. This study was conducted to investigate correlation between health correlates and the QWL in the emloyees of the Islamic Azad University, Lahijan Branch.

Methods: This descriptive-correlational study with regression analysis was conducted on 130 nonteaching employees of the Islamic Azad University, Lahijan Branch selected by convenience sampling with reference to the number of the studied variables (spiritual, physical, mental, social, and environmental health). The participants filled out demographic, health-promoting behaviors, and QWL questionnaires. Data were analyzed by SPSS using descriptive and inferential statistical tests especially multivariate regression.

Results: Among health components, physical health (r=0.55) and mental health (r=0.50) had the highest correlation with total QWL score. The amount of explained variance in criterion variable (QWL) by the regression model was 40%. Table of coefficients demonstrated that the scores for mental health and spiritual health had greater contribution in the model than other health aspects. Physical health, psychological health, spiritual health, and environmental health explained 29%, 45%, 37%, and 21% variance in QWL, respectively.

Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrated positive correlation between health aspects and QWL. Because the university employees spend a great deal of time at work and the quality of their work affects the entire organization, this finding can be useful to guide policy-makers and health experts in developing preventive and intervention programs in the future for promotion of the employees' health and organization.