Quality of life in diabetic elderlies

authors:

avatar Zohreh Vares 1 , avatar Zahra Aliakbarzade Arani 2 , *

Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Operating Room Department, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran
Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Sciences: Vol.3, issue 3; 27-33
published online: August 31, 2016
article type: Research Article
received: March 05, 2016
accepted: May 16, 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18869/acadpub.jnms.3.3.27

how to cite: Vares Z, Aliakbarzade Arani Z. Quality of life in diabetic elderlies. J Nurs Midwifery Sci. 2016;3(3):e141225. https://doi.org/10.18869/acadpub.jnms.3.3.27.

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Diabetes in the elderly is mostly associated with increased risk of development and worsening of geriatric
syndromes. In addition, it has a significant impact on various aspects of individuals with these syndromes. Therefore, this study aimed
to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in elderly diabetic patients.
Methods: This descriptive and analytical study was conducted on 88 elderly diabetic patients (selected from 1400 diabetic patients)
with medical records at diabetes centers in Kashan, Iran in 2006. The study tools were demographic questionnaire and Older People’s
Quality of Life Questionnaire (41-item version), applied to evaluate the general (13-52 scores), specific (27-108 scores) and total (40-
160 scores) aspects of QOL. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using univariate and multivariate logistic regression
models.
Results: In total, 65.9% of the patients were female and 34.1% were male. In terms of the aspects of QOL (i.e., general, specific and
total), 68.2%, 77.3% and 53.4% of the elderly patients had weak scores, respectively.
Conclusion: Given the low QOL in the majority of elderly diabetic patients, our results indicated that these type of patients need special
healthcare. In other words, this study reaffirmed the role of caring for the health of elderly diabetic patients.