Longitudinal assessment of health-related quality of life among older people with diabetes: results of a nationwide study in New Zealand

Abstract

Background: The current work examined experiences of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) among older adults with a diagnoses of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) over time compared to those without a diagnoses DM. Methods: The sample was drawn from six biennial waves of the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement survey, a prospective population-based cohort study of older adults 55-70 years at baseline. Data on sociodemographic factors, health behaviours, chronic disease diagnoses and physical and mental HRQOL (SF-12v2) were obtained using six biennial surveys administered 2006-2016. Generalised Estimating Equation models, adjusted for time-constant and -varying factors, were employed to compare HRQOL and its determinants over time for older adults with and without a diagnosis of DM. Results: DM was negatively associated with physical HRQOL [β (95% CI) −7.43 (−8.41, −6.44)] with older adults affected by DM reporting scores 7.4 points lower than those without DM. Similarly, the mean Mental HRQOL score was lower among those affected by DM [β = −4.97 (−5.93, −4.01)] however, scores increased over time for both groups ( p <0.001). Greater age, more chronic conditions, sight and sleep problems, obesity, lower annual income, and fewer years of education were predictors of poorer HRQOL among older adults. Conclusions: Older adults affected by diabetes experienced poorer physical and mental HRQOL compared to those not affected, when controlling for a range of sociodemographic and health related indices. A management aim must be to minimise the gap between two groups particularly as people age.

Older age does not influence the success of weight loss through the implementation of lifestyle modification

“…Interestingly, in the same study other aspects of QOL, such as self‐esteem and distress associated with being in public, actually improved with age 21 . Furthermore, in a nationwide study from New Zealand on older adults (aged 55‐70 years), obesity was a predictor for poorer QOL, with other predictors including chronic conditions, lower annual income, sight and sleep problems, greater age and fewer years of education 22 . Our own group has also previously reported a correlation between increasing age and worsening physical and sexual functioning in patients with morbid obesity identified for bariatric surgery in our hospital‐based obesity service 23 .…”

“…Interestingly, in the same study other aspects of QOL, such as self-esteem and distress associated with being in public, actually improved with age 21. Furthermore, in a nationwide study from New Zealand on older adults (aged 55-70 years), obesity was a predictor for poorer QOL, with other predictors including chronic conditions, lower annual income, sight and sleep problems, greater age and fewer years of education 22.…”

The Impact of Self-Stigma, Role Strain, and Diabetes Distress on Quality of Life and Glycemic Control in Women With Diabetes: A 6-Month Prospective Study

“…Accordingly, diabetes-related quality of life (D-QOL) concerns the perceptions of the impact of diabetes on health-related quality of life. Many previous studies have demonstrated that diabetes negatively impacts D-QOL because of the lifelong and complex self-management required for this disease (Janssen et al, 2020; Shamshirgaran et al, 2020). Additionally, WD experience worse D-QOL than do men with diabetes (Castellano-Guerrero et al, 2020).…”