[Predictors of quality of life and type 1 diabetes mellitus in Latin America: systematic review].

Diabetes mellitus is a serious public health problem worldwide. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease which prevails in childhood; it is characterized by the persistence of high levels of glucose in the blood as a consequence of a deficit in the secretion or in the action of insulin. Type 1 diabetes mellitus has a chronic evolution and impacts the quality of life of patients. In order to describe the predictors of quality of life of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus in Latin American countries, a systematic search was carried out in PubMed, Redalyc, SciELO, Scopus and Web of Science databases with the terms "SF-36", "WHOQOL" and "diabetes". A total of 2168 articles were identified, out of which only five were included in the qualitative analysis. It was found that comorbidities and complications decrease the quality of life of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, and factors such as adequate therapeutic adherence, good metabolic control, psychosocial and emotional well-being have a positive impact on the quality of life of these patients. Comorbidities and complications in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus are the main predictors of poor quality of life.