Health-related quality of life in insulin-treated diabetic patients in the Sudan.

Diabetes Res Clin Pract

Department of Medical Sciences, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.

Published: October 1999

AI Article Synopsis

  • A study of 89 Sudanese insulin-treated diabetes mellitus patients aged 25-55 revealed that only 13.5% had good metabolic control, indicating a correlation between poor control (high HbA1c) and health-related quality of life (HRQL).
  • Patients with late diabetic complications, which affected nearly half, reported significantly lower HRQL than those without complications.
  • The findings emphasize the importance of diabetes education and better metabolic control from early on to improve HRQL and prevent complications.

Article Abstract

To determine health-related quality of life (HRQL) in people with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus in Sudan, a total of 89 patients aged 25-55 years and with > or = 5 years diabetes duration was studied. HRQL was measured with a 68-item questionnaire from the Medical Outcomes Study. Late diabetic complications were assessed, and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was measured to assess the metabolic control. Of the patients (m = 36; f = 53), only 13.5%, had good metabolic control ((HbA1c) < 7.5%). These patients rated their HRQL as worse than patients with poor metabolic control ((HbA1c) > 10%). However, the latter were significantly younger, had shorter diabetes duration, and were free from late complications. Overall, 49.4% of the patients had one or more of the late diabetic complications. These patients rated their HRQL significantly lower when compared with patients without complications. Older age and the presence of late diabetic complications were the most important predictors for HRQL. It is concluded that self-rated HRQL in this group of patients is generally low. Improving diabetes knowledge and the metabolic control since early in the course of the disease, will not only retard the development of late complications, but will certainly improve the HRQL of these patients.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0168-8227(99)00075-3DOI Listing

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