فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: Few women in history were respected by society because of their contributionsto the field of science, arts, politics, and so on, but in general, women are deprived of their rightsand being refrained from decision‑making in major areas of individual and family life. This researchtried to investigate the degree of empowerment and quality of life (QOL) of the women to find outthe relationship between empowerment and QOL of women.MATERIALS AND METHODS: An exploratory survey was carried out among 210 purposively selectedmarried women aged between 20 and 49 years in a selected municipality area of West Bengal.Data were obtained by one‑to‑one interviews using Women Empowerment Interview Schedule andWHOQOL Scale BREF.RESULTS: The mean total QOL score of the women was found as 98.59 ± 13.61. The transformedscores in the physical, psychological, social relation, and environmental domains were 74.92 ± 14.97,66.58 ± 15.78, 81.00 ± 18.07, and 65.28 ± 17.99, respectively. The degree of empowerment wascalculated as 64.71 ± 6.79. Among the women, 5% had poor, 62% had medium, and 33% had ahigh degree of empowerment. A weak positive correlation (r = 0.325, P = 0.001) was found betweenQOL and empowerment. Significant associations were established between empowerment andeducation (Fisher’s exact = 13.975 [0.007]) and education gap with husband (Fisher’s Exact = 8.68,P 0.069). Multiple regression analysis between empowerment dimensions and QOL shows thatpersonal or family dimensions, including health, are a significant predictor for the QOL (P < 0.01).CONCLUSION: Most of the women had medium degree of empowerment. Increased degree ofempowerment improves their QOL of women. Women should be aware of their rights that canenhance the empowerment in different dimensions of life.