The Relationship between Quality of Life and Hope of Hospitalized Pneumoconiosis Patients at Shut-down Mine Areas in Korea

This study was to examine the relationship between quality of life and hope in patients with pneumoconiosis, and to examine whether quality of life is different by sociodemographic variables and the degree of disability resulting from the cardiopulmonary dysfunction. A cross-sectional design was used for the study, which included 199 retired coal workers with pneumoconiosis patients. The entire cohort was male and had a mean age of 68.2 years. Of the sociodemographic variables, marital status and level of disability as a result of cardiopulmonary dysfunction were found to be significant differences to the physical and mental component summary, respectively. The quality of life scores was significantly correlated with hope levels. These findings may be useful for developing a comprehensive nursing practice to encourage hope and improve the quality of life of patients with pneumoconiosis.