Health-related quality of life in diabetic patients and controls without diabetes in refugee camps in the Gaza strip: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing in developed and developing countries. Diabetes is known to strongly affect the health-related quality of life (HRQOL). HRQOL is also influenced by living conditions. We analysed the effects of having diabetes on HRQOL under the living conditions in refugee camps in the Gaza strip. METHODS: We studied a sample of 197 diabetic patients who were recruited from three refugee camps in the Gaza strip and 197 age- and sex-matched controls living in the same camps. To assess HRQOL, we used the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) including four domains (physical health, psychological, social relations and environment). Domain scores were compared for cases (diabetic patients) and controls (persons without diabetes) and the impact of socio-economic factors was evaluated in both groups. RESULTS: All domains were strongly reduced in diabetic patients as compared to controls, with stronger effects in physical health (36.7 vs. 75.9 points of the 0–100 score) and psychological domains (34.8 vs. 70.0) and weaker effects in social relationships (52.4 vs. 71.4) and environment domains (23.4 vs. 36.2). The impact of diabetes on HRQOL was especially severe among females and older subjects (above 50 years). Low socioeconomic status had a strong negative impact on HRQOL in the younger age group (<50 years). CONCLUSION: HRQOL is strongly reduced in diabetic patients living in refugee camps in the Gaza strip. Women and older patients are especially affected

"Behavior, Metabolic Control and Health-related Quality of Life in Diabetic Patients at Bandar Abbas Diabetic Clinic"

Diabetes is a chronic disease of lifelong duration, and its management requires a fundamental change in the patient’s lifestyle. The aims of this study were to determine behaviors of diabetic patients in relation to management of their disease, assess metabolic control and health-related quality of life of them. The target population was type 2 diabetic patients and a cross-sectional approach was used. We studied 80 randomly chosen patients. To determine behaviors of patients, data was collected using an interview schedule. Metabolic control was assessed by measuring glycosylated hemoglobin (HBA1c), and health-related quality of life was measured by means of WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. The majority of patients had good compliance with adherence to the prescribed medicines (65% always and 35%often) and foot care practices (82.5%). However, only 6.3% of them administered self-monitoring blood glucose and 38.8% complied with dietary regimen always. Among smokers, 13.8% stopped smoking after being diagnosed with the disease. The mean HBA1c in the whole patient group was 9.25 ± 1.06 and it ranged from 6.9 to 12.9 and only 2.5% of them had optimum control. The mean rating of health-related quality of life in all scales varied between 55.67 and 63.75(maximum score: 100). The highest rated mean score was for physical health and the lowest was for psychological. It is recommended that every effort be made to initiate and promote behavioral change and improve metabolic control in diabetic patients. To achieve this, an appropriate patient’s education program should be planned and future research is needed to reveal determinants of compliance behavior and factors associated with metabolic control and health-related quality of life in diabetic patients