Assessment of factors affecting quality of life in diabetic patients in Iran.

OBJECTIVE

Assess the pattern of relationships between personal-background characteristics and dimensions of quality of life (QOL) in diabetic patients.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional descriptive study.

SAMPLE: 117 adults with type 2 diabetes (100 female, 17 male) randomly selected from outpatients referred to Sina hospital (Tabriz, Iran).

METHODS

Participants answered a three-part questionnaire including (1) sociodemographic and medical (diabetes-related) personal-background characteristics; (2) general health-related QOL instrument based on Swedish Health-Related QOL; (3) disease-specific instrument for diabetic patients. Nine QOL dimensions were covered: physical function, pain, daily activities, feelings, sleep, relationships with relatives, overall health, problems with diabetes, satisfaction with diabetes treatment methods. Data were analyzed with inferential statistics, correlation, and multi-stage stepwise regression.

RESULTS

Personal background characteristics (age, presence of medically educated people in family, whether patient was family breadwinner, unemployment, complications of diabetes) accounted for 27% of variance in the physical function dimension of QOL dimension. Other QOL dimensions (daily activities, overall health, sleep, satisfaction with diabetes treatment.) were also related to personal background characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetic patients face great challenges in many dimensions of QOL. Nursing instructors and nursing educators in educational centers for diabetics can use the findings of this research to assess their patients more effectively.