Hong Kong men with low incomes have worse health-related quality of life as judged by SF-36 scores.

OBJECTIVE To analyse the association between income and health-related quality of life using the Medical Outcome Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) Chinese version in Hong Kong Chinese working population. DESIGN Cross-sectional observation study. SETTING A commercial company in Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS All clerical and administrative staff of a commercial company was invited to participate; 876 of the 1003 staff agreed. The subjects were categorised into three income groups according to monthly income in Hong Kong dollars (low, < or =10,000; middle, >10,000-25,000; high, >25,000). The mean age of the 288 men and 588 women was 34.9 (standard deviation, 7.9; median, 34.0; range, 18-71) years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES SF-36 scores on health-related quality of life. RESULTS The distribution of income was 30% in high-, 54.8% in middle-, and 15.2% in low-income groups. Women had similar SF-36 scores among different income groups. In men, for most variables there was a significant positive linear correlation between income and SF-36 scores. CONCLUSION Low income is associated with a worse health-related quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese men.