Health-related quality of life and associated factors among patients with diabetes mellitus in Botswana

Abstract

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important aspect of diabetes mellitus care. The objective of the study was to determine the HRQOL of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients in Botswana as little known in Africa. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study of 380 randomly selected DM patients in a tertiary clinic in Gaborone, Botswana was conducted to obtain Data on HRQOL and structured questionnaire was used to collect information on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Multivariate logistic regression to determine sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated. Results: Majority of patients were female with no formal education or primary level of education. Mean HbA1c was 7.97% (SD: 2.02) and most patients had poor glycemic control. The majority had both worse physical composite score (PCS-12) and mental composite score (MCS-12), with worse proportions of the two. Female gender, older age ≥ 65 years, and the presence of three or more documented diabetic complications were associated with significant worse PCS-12. Presence of two diabetic complications, three or more diabetic complications, and musculoskeletal disease were associated with significant MCS-12. Conclusions: Diabetic patients in Botswana have relatively poor HRQOL. The fact that most patients present late with complications calls for policy attention to diagnose diabetes mellitus early and prevent associated complications, ultimately improving health-related quality of life among diabetes mellitus patients

Exploring variables associated with poor health‐related quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes in Jordan

“…While some studies have shown that long duration of diabetes is associated with decreased quality of life, which is consistent with the present study findings, other studies showed no association between the two variables …”

“…Some studies reported that patients who had poor glycemic control had a diminished HRQoL . Other studies did not report a significant association between glycemic control and HRQoL, which is consistent with the current study findings. A possible explanation for the lack of association between glycemic control and the EQ‐5D scores is that there is a time delay between elevated HbA1c and the development of debilitating complications.…”

“…In contrast to previous studies, and in agreement with others, the current study revealed that women had a worse HRQoL than men patients with type 2 diabetes. This difference could be explained by the fact that women have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and depression or anxiety than men.…”

“…Results of the univariate analysis revealed that, in line with earlier research findings, patients who have multiple chronic conditions and those with diabetes complications manifested as ASCVD were found to have lower HRQoL. However, both variables were not significantly associated with HRQoL scores in the multiple regression analysis in the current study.…”

Cross-Sectional Study of Association Between Glycemic Control and Quality of Life Among Diabetic Patients

“…The demographic characteristics of the participants, including nonelderly age, female, low education level, and inactive work life, were similar to the findings of Rwegerara et al, showing that the majority of DM patients were women (69.5%), had a first-degree education (47.6%), were <54 years of age (41.8%), and had a disease duration of <5 years (49.2%). Vidal-Peracho et al also observed that the majority of patients with T2DM were female (74%) and inactive (89.6%) [18][19].…”