The Determinants of Quality of Life Including Treatment Satisfaction in Patients with Type Two Diabetes Mellitus: Are Different Generic Qol Instruments Sensitive to the Same Determinants?

The aim of this study was to assess the determinants of health related quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes, using two generic quality of life instruments: SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF. Ninety eight patients with type 2 diabetes, monitored in the CBU Medical Faculty Endocrinology department during the first half of the year of 2001 were included in the study. The patients completed a questionnaire including socio-demographic variables, disease/treatment history, indicators of glycaemic control (HbA1c, FPG and PPG)and their satisfaction on disease management as well as three generic Qol questionnaires. The domain scores of the Qol instruments were considered as dependent variables. The mean age of the subjects was 54.2 ± 11.4 years and 71.4 percent of them were female. HbA1c did not show any relationship with any of the domains of the instruments. Factors which negatively affected some of the domain scores of SF-36 were: lower levels of education; being female and a younger subject and living with an another diabetic in the family; having a diabetic complication and higher level of postprandial blood glucose and to be a member of nuclear family. Higher satisfaction from glycaemic control management increased the domain scores of WHOQOL. SF36 and WHOQOL-BREF gave consistent results in diabetic complications. It is concluded that, SF-36 is a useful profile in assessing functional status in type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, besides its ability to predict functional status of disease, WHOQOL-BREF can be regarded as a very useful instrument to be used especially in assessing health service satisfaction and health management purposes in clinical settings.