Quality of life of type 2 diabetes patients in a tertiary care hospital in southern part of India, Shimoga, Karnataka: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Diabetes mellitus is a non-communicable disease which has reached epidemic proportions. According to World Health Organization (WHO) there is "an apparent epidemic of diabetes, which is strongly related to lifestyle and economic change". Diabetes is predicted to become the seventh leading cause of death in the world by the year 2030.Total deaths from diabetes are projected to rise by more than 50% in the next 10 years. 1 India is going to become diabetic capital of the world. In India there are 61.3 million people living with diabetes and projected to reach 101.2 million by 2030 with 90% of cases being type 2. 2 In 1948 the World Health Organization defined health from a new perspective, stating that health was depending not only by the absence of disease and infirmity, but also by the presence of physical, mental and social well-being. 3 In recent years, there has been a burgeoning interest in quality of life issues, and especially in health-related quality of life, fuelled by several factors, including a growing body of evidence concerning the potent effect of psychosocial factors on physical health ABSTRACT Background: Diabetes mellitus is a non-communicable disease which has reached epidemic proportions. According to World Health Organization (WHO) there is "an apparent epidemic of diabetes, which is strongly related to lifestyle and economic change". Objective of the study was to measure the quality of life (QOL) of diabetic patients and to study the various factors influencing the QOL of diabetic patients. Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted using medical outcomes study short form version 2 (MOS SF36 v2) to measure the QOL of diabetic patients aged >20 years. 100 diabetics, including 55 males and 45 females were selected. Results: Mean age of respondents was 54.4 years, with maximum number of subjects in the age group of 40-59 years. 68% of subjects were form urban area. 63% of the respondents were having diabetes since 5 years. 91% of subjects were taking oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA) and 9% of them were taking both OHA and insulin. Overall, SF 36 scores were lower in females (55.0) than in males (58.47) and this difference was found to be statistically significant. Treatment for diabetes, compliance for treatment, physical activity and follow up with doctor was found to be significantly associated with various domains and total SF-36 scores. Among the eight domains physical functioning and vitality are the domains which were found to be significantly affected. Conclusions: Diabetes had an adverse effect on QOL of diabetic subjects. With respect to eight domains, males had better scores in almost all domains. Physical functioning (PF), vitality (VT) and overall social functioning (SF)-36 scores were found to be significant.