A Study to Evaluate the Quality of Life of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the QOL of patients with Diabetes Mellitus.

Study Design: This was a prospective, observational study.

Duration of Study: The study was conducted from August 2019 to January 2021 in Yashoda Hospital, Hyderabad.

Methodology: Patients of either sex with ≥1year history of diabetes willing to give the consent were included in the study. Patients of either sex with <1year history of DM, Pregnant/lactating women and patients not willing to give the consent were excluded from the study. Data on Blood glucose levels (FBS, PPBS) and HbA1C was also obtained and assessed. QOLID questionnaire was administered to the patients and assessed which consisted of a set of 34 items representing 8 domains such as Role limitation due to the physical health, Physical endurance, General health, Treatment satisfaction, Symptom botherness, Financial worries, Mental health, and Diet satisfaction).

Results: A total of 200 patients were analysed in the study,108(54%) were males and 92(46%) were females. The average age of the patients was 58.5 years with majority being 51-70years (73.5%) of age. Patients with higher age and females had poor QOL compared to others. The correlation between various categorical variables with that of scores of QOL in various domains was assessed, Age of the patients influenced QOL score in various domains like RLPH (p value-0.038), PE (p value-0.0183), and SB (p value-0.0002), Gender has influenced QOL score in domains like RLPH (p value-0.0008), PE (p value-0.0106), TS (p value-0.0005) and Educational Qualification has influenced QOL score in RLPH (p value-0.0008), GH (p value-<0.0001), TS (p value-<0.0001), E/MH (p value-<0.0001).

Conclusion: The results concluded that overall QOL was noticeably low in Diabetic patients especially in Women and elderly thus indicating that Diabetes management is not restricted to treatment but also requires attention on QOL of patients.