Quality of life in diabetics referred to Iran Diabetes Association (IDA) (Tehran 2003)

Introduction: Quality of life is an important factor in assessing health and treatment conditions. A questionnaire for assessing quality of life( QOL ) in diabetics. has been designed. In this study the questionnaire was validated and diabetics QOL life referred to IDA were studied.

Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive-analytical one and a cross sectional survey. All the patients referring to IDA during 3 months who were over 18 year old with more than one  year suffering from diabetes selected as subjects for this study. A 41 item questionnaire was used . The questionaire assessed QOL in 3 dimensions: General QOL(13- 52 socores), Specific (27-108) and Total (40-160). The blood samples were  also collected for measurement of glycosylated hemoglobin. For each case  descriptive and inferential statistics were employed (t-test pearson and spearman correlations).

Results: Among 104 subjects who were analyzed, 68 were female (65%), 14 subjects had type 1 diabetes (13%) and 34 patients were under treatment with Insulin injections (32.7%). The average age was 50.5±12.8 years old. The mean score of QOL in G, S and T were 37, 79.7, and 116.7 respectively. QOL in 3 mentioned dimensions was correlated with existence of pain in foot and hand, fatigue and some other reported symptoms. QOL had no significant relationship with age, type of diabetes, duration and typeof treatment.

Conclusion:The designed questionnaire showed a high reliability and relationship between signs and symptoms and QOL.