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Background: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of education, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and risk factors on the quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A prospective study was conducted in three phases: before education, after education, and in the period of pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The subjects were diabetics on oral therapy. To determine the quality of life index, a standardized Ferrans and Powers survey questionnaire was used. Results: A total of 205 participants took part in the study, of which 111 (54.1%) were men and 94 (46%) women. Participants were enrolled in the study between January 2019 and September 2020. Glycated hemoglobin values were significantly higher before education compared to post-education and at the time of COVID-19 (Friedman test, p = 0.002), and body mass index was significantly lower after education compared to values before education (Friedman test, p = 0.008). The quality of life was significantly lower in all domains in the COVID-19 period (Friedman test, p < 0.001). Conclusions: A significant predictor of worse assessment of overall quality of life was male gender and rural place of residence. Disease duration of up to 5 years was a significant predictor of worse assessment in the psychological/spiritual domain, while being married was a predictor of better assessment of the quality of life in the family domain. The education of diabetics brought an increase in the health and quality of life while the coronavirus disease pandemic had negative consequences on the same parameters. We consider it necessary to systematically educate diabetics about the comorbidity of COVID-19.

The PROMO (preference for once monthly bisphosphonate) Study, conducted in seven hospital centres in Croatia between June 2007 and June 2008, was designed to analyse patient preference for weekly and monthly bisphosphonates in everyday clinical practice where the significant proportion of patients are not completely satisfied with the current osteoporosis treatment. Eligible participants were women with postmenopausal osteoporosis taking weekly bisphosphonates for the last 6 months. Those who agreed to be enrolled were transferred from weekly to monthly ibandronate for the next 6 months. There was no washout period between the two treatment regimens. At the baseline, patients expressed their satisfaction with the weekly treatment. At the end of the study, all patients were asked to complete the five-question survey specially designed for this study. Study population comprised 258 participants. Among 248 patients who completed the study, 244 (98.4%) declared their preference for one of the regimens or they had no preference. Once-monthly regimen was preferred by 231 patients (94.7%), whereas once-weekly regimen was preferred by five patients (2.0%). Eight patients (3.3%) indicated no preference. Furthermore, 93.0% of patients thought that monthly dosing was more convenient. Compared to weekly regimen, monthly dosing was associated with significantly higher satisfaction with the treatment and with significantly less adverse events. In line with these data, 85.9% of patients stated improved quality of life with monthly ibandronate. In summary, the PROMO Study demonstrated strong patient preference for monthly over weekly dosing which is expected to improve suboptimal adherence to weekly bisphosphonates.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESStudies of bone mineral density (BMD) in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus have shown conflicting results. We conducted this study to determine whether postmenopausal women with diabetes have higher BMD than non-diabetic women of similar age, and to investigate the relationship between BMD and relevant clinical characteristics in these groups of women.PATIENTS AND METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed lumbar spine, femoral neck, and radius BMD data and other relevant clinical data for 130 postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 166 non-diabetic women collected during a voluntary screening for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women without a history of low bone mass or osteoporotic fractures.RESULTSWomen with type 2 diabetes mellitus had significantly higher mean lumbar spine BMD ( 0.903±0.165 vs. 0.824±0.199, respectively, P<.001) and mean femoral neck BMD (0.870±0.132 vs. 0.832±0.134, respectively, P<.05) than non-diabetic women. In both groups of women, age correlated negatively with BMD levels at all three anatomical sites. Higher body mass index was associated only with higher lumbar spine BMD in both groups. Alkaline phosphatase levels showed a negative correlation with BMD at all sites in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus.CONCLUSIONPostmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus have higher BMD levels than non-diabetic women with similar clinical characteristics, and require a more scrutinized approach in managing low bone mass.