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Health-related quality of life in poverty-alleviated individuals living with chronic conditions: a cross-sectional survey from an impoverished county in China
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  • Published: 13 January 2026

Health-related quality of life in poverty-alleviated individuals living with chronic conditions: a cross-sectional survey from an impoverished county in China

  • Lin Chang1 &
  • Lulu Zhang1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Diseases
  • Endocrine system and metabolic diseases
  • Epidemiology

Abstract

To investigate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and its influencing factors among patients with chronic diseases in a rural population recently lifted out of poverty in China. In this cross-sectional study, 1,750 adults aged 15 years and older who had been lifted out of poverty were recruited from 23 rural townships in Linquan County, China. The HRQoL of the participants was evaluated using the 3-level version of the European quality of life five dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D-3 L) questionnaire, and responses were converted to health utility score using the Chinese time trade-off value set. Regression analysis was conducted to examine the factors associated with overall HRQoL and its five health dimensions. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the robustness of the results. The mean age of the 1,750 participants was (70.13\(\:\pm\:\)13.55) years. The average healthy utility score was (0.69\(\:\pm\:\)0.23). High proportions of participants reported problems in pain/discomfort (72%), anxiety/depression (54.91%), and mobility (51.38%). Female respondents reported more problems across all five EQ-5D dimensions than male. The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition indicated that this disparity was driven primarily by differences in age and the number of chronic diseases. Tobit regression revealed that disability (β = -0.207, p<0.01), older age (β = -0.003, p < 0.01), and multimorbidity (β = -0.210, p < 0.01) were significantly associated with the reduction of HRQoL. Conversely, being married (β = 0.108, p < 0.01) and having a medium (β = 0.083, p < 0.01) or high income (β = 0.084, p < 0.01) were positively associated with HRQoL. The HRQoL among chronic disease patients in rural populations lifted out of poverty remains to be improved. From a societal perspective, the findings revealed remaining disparities rooted in age, sex, disability, income, and multimorbidity. Health policy must prioritize integrated, patient-centered approaches to consolidate poverty elimination achievements and advance health equity in the post-poverty era.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank all of the study participants.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 72474220).

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  1. Department of Health Service, College of Health Service, Naval Medical University, No. 800, Xiangyin Road, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Lin Chang & Lulu Zhang

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LC (Lin Chang) and LZ (Lulu Zhang) contributed to the study design, LC was responsible for data analysis, and drafted the manuscript. LZ supervised the research and revised the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lulu Zhang.

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This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the College of Health Service, Naval Medical University (Approval No. 72474220). All participants provided written informed consent prior to participation in the study.

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Chang, L., Zhang, L. Health-related quality of life in poverty-alleviated individuals living with chronic conditions: a cross-sectional survey from an impoverished county in China. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35543-0

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  • Received: 10 June 2025

  • Accepted: 06 January 2026

  • Published: 13 January 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35543-0

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Keywords

  • Health-related quality of life
  • Poverty
  • EQ-5D-3L
  • Rural
  • China
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