Health-Related Quality of Life in Relation to Fruit and Vegetable Intake among Polish Pharmacists

A direct association between health-related quality of life (HQoL) and nutrition remains unclear, although lifestyle habits are known to impact on human health. Thus, the aim of this study was to estimate an association between dietary habits, such as vegetable and fruit consumption, in particular, and HQoL. SF-36 (RAND-SF-36) and the Dietary Habits and Nutrition Beliefs Questionnaire (KomPAN) were addressed to Polish pharmacists with a valid professional license. After the preliminary verification, 667 pharmacists were included into the study, and altogether, 11 questions from the KomPAN questionnaire and all RAND-SF-36 multiple choice questions were processed for statistical analysis. All HQoL scores, excluding physical functioning and role-physical, were significantly higher in the group declaring fruit consumption >= 1 time per day (p < 0.005), while physical functioning (p = 0.008) and general health (p = 0.03) were significantly higher in the group declaring vegetable consumption >= 1 time per day. Thus, there is indeed a positive association between vegetable and fruit consumption and HQoL. Increased fruit intake could certainly impact on the health-related quality of life of Polish pharmacists, primarily in terms of mental functioning, while increased vegetable intake could impact in terms of physical functioning.