QUALITY OF LIFE AND EATING HABITS AMONG NURSES WORKING IN A PUBLIC HOSPITAL

Introduction: The work of nurses is most often done in rotation shifts, which includes night shifts. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between eating habits and quality of life of nurses working in a public hospital. Methodology: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population consisted of the nursing staff of a large public hospital in the prefecture of Attica. Data were collected using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Mediterranean diet score. The statistical analysis was performed with the statistical program SPSS for Windows version 24. Results: Totally, 73 nurses aged 43.4±10.2 years were included in the study. The dimensions of health-related quality of life in descending order were physical functionality (78.6±21.2), physical pain (72.6±36.9), social functionality (71.9±24.6), the physical role (70.9±34.6), the emotional role (67.6±26.8), the mental-mental health (66.2±16.7), the vitality (62.5±21.1) and general health (59.2±20.2). The mean score on the Mediterranean diet score questionnaire was 31.1±6.3. Men had a significantly higher score than women in the dimension of physical pain and emotional role (87.5±20.6 vs. 68.4±39.6 and 75.3±30.6 vs. 65.5±25.5, p <0.05, respectively). Married women had a significantly lower score in the dimensions of physical functionality (p<0.05), physical role (p<0.05), emotional role (p<0.05) and mental health (p<0.05).