Quality of life and perceived usability by Criciúma park goers: multilevel analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to measure and correlate the perceived quality of life and usability of park goers (quality of equipment, number of equipment, accessibility and safety) in Criciúma/SC. This is a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study. The World Health Organization Quality of Life, short version, was administered to 312 volunteer visitors in the three city municipal parks. Multilevel regression models were used to analyze the data. Participants showed differences in relation to sex (perceived quality of life), age group (psychological domain), income (physical, psychological and environmental domain) and education (environmental domain). There was a low to moderate correlation between the quality of the equipment and the environment domain, between accessibility and the physical domain, and between safety and the psychological domains and social relationships. Parks are beneficial spaces for a more egalitarian quality of life among their visitors, although external factors influence this perception. The results of the correlations indicate that isolated usability factors may not favor higher values of the perception of quality of life, as well as indicating the subjectivity of this perception based on a multidimensional set of factors. It is recommended that future studies need to investigate the longitudinal impacts of the parks on peoples’ quality of life.