How do life-course trajectories of socioeconomic position affect quality of life in patients with diabetes mellitus?

Purpose: This study evaluated the association of life-course economic trajectory with health-related quality of life in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The study subjects were 183 outpatients over 20 years of age with diabetes mellitus. A questionnaire was administered to collect information about current and childhood economic status, and health-related quality of life was assessed through the 12-item short-form health survey (SF-12). Economic trajectory was categorized into five groups according to the change between current and childhood economic status. The mental component summary score and physical component summary score of the SF-12 were compared with average scores for the US population due to lack of domestic data.

Results: Physical health-related quality of life was more likely to be affected by current economic status than by economic position in childhood. On the other hand, mental health-related quality of life was associated not only with the self-rated economic status (p = 0.01) but also socioeconomic trajectory (p = 0.04), even after controlling for potential confounding factors. These results suggest that early economic status may affect mental health throughout one's lifetime.

Conclusions: Economic status and trajectory throughout life may influence health-related quality of life in patients with diabetes mellitus.