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Scand J Caring Sci. 2003 Sep;17(3):301-7

Perceptions of health-related quality of life of men and women living with
coeliac disease.

Hallert C, Sandlund O, Broqvist M.

Coeliac Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linkoping University,
Linkoping, Sweden.

Women with long-standing coeliac disease express poorer health-related
quality of life (HRQoL) than men do for unclear reasons. This led us to
explore differences in their understanding of HRQoL using a
phenomenographic approach. We interviewed 10 coeliac subjects (mean age 57
years, range 35-73) who had been on a gluten-free diet for 10 years and had
scored either high or low in the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36)
General Health and Vitality scales. Three dimensions were revealed that
pertained to their perception of HRQoL: bodily sensations, social
consequences and coping strategies. Within these, the women experienced
more bowel symptoms than men did, despite keeping to a strict diet. This
item was the only one predicting the SF-36 scores. The women also described
more distress caused by the restrictions in daily life, closely related to
their controlling of food contents. The coeliac men took advantage of using
a problem-oriented coping approach while the women seeking an emotionally
oriented strategy showed less satisfaction with the outcome. We conclude
that the intriguing difference in HRQoL between coeliac men and women may
have some of its origin in the way living with the disorder is
conceptualized and coped with. The results imply that in the management of
coeliac patients, gender-related aspects need to be taken into account to
improve treatment outcome.

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