Quality of Life and Urban / Rural Living: Preliminary Results of a Community Survey in Italy

Background: The purpose of this population-based study is to examine the association between subjective qual- ity of life and rural/urban residence in six Italian regions, including age and gender into the analysis. Methods: Study design: community survey. Study population: Samples stratified according to sex and age, drawn from mu- nicipal records. Sample size: 4999 people 18 years and older, from seven communities within six regions of Italy. Tools: Ad-hoc form to assess basic demographic data; SF-12. Interviewers were trained psychologists or medical doctors. Results: 3398 subjects were interviewed (68% of recruited sample). The mean score of SF-12 in the overall sample was 38.4±6.1, SF-12 was higher in men than in in women (38.4±6.1 vs 37.5±5.9 F=99.18, df 1, 3396, 3397, p<0.0001); SF-12 score decreased from the youngest to the oldest age group, with significant differences between all ages groups; men showed higher scores in all age groups. The urban/rural difference of mean scores of SF-12 did not achieve statistical sig- nificance in women. Young men with urban residence had higher SF-12 scores than their counterparts with rural resi- dence. Maen aged 65 years and older with rural residence showed, by contrast, higher scores than men from the same age group with urban residence. Conclusions: Men show a higher subjective quality of life than women. 1. Subjective quality of life decreases with age in both genders. 2. Men are more sensitive to urban/rural residence than women. 3. Young men live better in cities, elderly men better in rural areas.