Quality of Life in Diabetic Patients of Rural Health Centers in Northwest of Tabriz City

Background and Objectives: Diabetes is a major health problem worldwide, with a high prevalence, especially in developing countries. Diabetic patients face several challenges and one of the most important issues in the care of these patients is their quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life of diabetic patients in rural health centers in the Northwest of Tabriz city.

Material and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 diabetic patients in rural health care centers in the Northwest of Tabriz were selected through convenience sampling. The short form health survey questionnaire (SF36) was used to measure The Quality of life. The Data were analyzed by descriptive and analytic statistics (T test, correlation coefficient, and Kruskal -Wallis Non parametric test).

Results: Total mean score of quality of life was 54.42 (±11.23) and located in acceptable range. The highest score 77.51 (±23.61) was related to Bodily Pain Scale and the lowest 32.78 (±18.39) was role limitations due to emotional problems. The results showed that independent variables such as age, age of disease onset, marital status, educational level, type of treatment and family size had a significant relationship (P˂0.05) with the quality of life.

Conclusion: Changes in quality of life dimensions are affected by individual, cultural, social and economic factors, and measurement of QoL in chronic diseases can provide useful information for the planning and care of these patients.