Household Food Insecurity is Associated with Health-Related Quality of Life in Rural Type 2 Diabetic Patients.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is associated with household food insecurity (HFI). However, the studies examining the relationship between HFI and HRQOL in patients with type 2 diabetes are scarce. Thus, this study was designed to examine the relationship between HFI and HRQOL in rural type 2 diabetic patients.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included 1847 rural patients with type 2 diabetes in Neyshabur from April to July 2012. HRQOL and HFI were measured with 36-item HRQOL (SF-36) and 6-item version of Household Food Security questionnaires, respectively. HRQOL was divided into eight dimensions and two summary components. We categorized households as high food secure (HFS), low food secure (LFS), and very low food secure (VLFS). Multiple linear regression model was applied to assess the independent effect of food insecurity on HRQOL.

Results: The mean age of participants was 59.65 ± 12.3 years (range: 30-97) with 69.8% women. The overall prevalence of HFI was 46.1%, and the total mean score of HRQOL was 51.11. Multiple linear regression model showed that HFI was significantly associated with the total mean score of HRQOL and its eight dimensions. One-way ANOVA test also showed that HRQOL (in all dimensions) was significantly different between 3 groups of household food security status (HFS, LFS, and VLFS) (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: The results of this study showed that HFI was associated with all dimensions of HRQOL and it is one of the strongest variables, in association with HRQOL among rural patients with type 2 diabetes.