Abstract

ARCEGA-DOMINGUEZ, Arturo; LARA-MUNOZ, Carmen  and  PONCE-DE-LEON-ROSALES, Sergio. Factors related to subjective evaluation of quality of life of diabetic patients. Rev. invest. clín. [online]. 2005, vol.57, n.5, pp.676-684. ISSN 2564-8896.

Objective. To determine the relationship between some clinical and psychosocial factors and the quality of life of a group of diabetic patients. Method. A cross sectional study was done with diabetic patients attending a primary care unit. Quality of life was evaluated with a verbal global scale. The clinical and psychosocial factors studied were: type of diabetes, duration of the disease, type of treatment, associated diseases, complications, metabolic control (glycosylated hemoglobin), treatment compliance, coping styles, negative attitude to disease, social support, and socioeconómica! level. Results. We interviewed 173 patients, most women (73%), most type 2 (95%). We found that being a woman was a factor negatively related to quality of life. Of clinical variables, only duration of disease was slightly correlated with quality of life (-0.14). Psychological and social variables were significantly correlated with quality of life. We performed a stepwise multiple regression analysis and we found that seven psychosocial variables explained 30% of variance of quality of life. Conclusions. Our results indicate that clinical factors did not correlate with quality of life. It is the way the patient lives with diabetes and not the diabetes by itself what affects the quality of life of diabetic patients. Some psychological and social variables were significantly related to quality of life of these patients.

Keywords : Quality of life; factors; Clinical factors; Psychosocial factors; Diabetes.

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