WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION-FIVE WELL-BEING INDEX: AN APPRAISAL OF DISTRICTS OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the mental wellbeing of the general population in districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan using the World Health Organization-Five (WHO-5) well-being index. METHODS: WHO-5 well-being index questionnaire was used to document the mental well-being of individuals from thirteen most populous districts from seven divisional administrations of KP province. A rural-urban sample within these districts was estimated on the basis of proportional allocation method. The towns, villages and households in the selected districts were chosen through systematic random sampling technique by dividing the total households by the sample size. The mean score for the province was calculated and compared it to each district’s scores and to the rural-urban scores. RESULTS: Out of 500 households, 303 (60.6%) were from rural and 197 (39.4%) from urban areas. Mean WHO-5 wellbeing scores was 14.60±2.65, 14.38±2.75 & 14.81±3.13 for province, urban and rural areas respectively. Higher scores reflecting better quality of life in various life domains was reported for Swabi (18.20±3.201), Haripur (18.00±2.98) and Abbottabad (17.64±3.39). Lowest scores were reported from Bannu (10.6±2.716), Charsadda (11.5±2.89) & Dera Ismail Khan (12.03±3.25) districts. Higher score for urban areas was reported from Swabi (19.8±3.243), Nowshehra (17.77±3.10) & Haripur (17.44±2.760), while for rural areas in Abbottabad (19.42±3.729), Haripur (18.33±3.01) & Mardan (17.70±3.284) districts. CONCLUSION: Mental well-being is higher for people living in Swabi, Haripur, & Abbottabad and lower for residents of Bannu, Charsadda & Dera Ismail Khan districts. Further research is required to study the contributing factors for lower mental well-being in these districts.