Self-Reported Satisfaction to Treatment, Quality of Life and General Health of Type 2 Diabetes Patients with Inadequate Glycemic Control from North-Eastern Romania

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) undermines health and quality of life (QoL). This cross-sectional study surveyed 138 consenting T2DM patients from North-Eastern Romania with regard to their satisfaction with treatment, diabetes-related impact on QoL, and general health. The Romanian versions of Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ), Audit of Diabetes Dependent Quality of Life (ADDQoL-19), and 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaires were used. Self-reports were analyzed in conjunction with clinical and metabolic profiling. The patients were 57.86 ± 8.82 years old, 49.3% men, treated with oral glucose-lowering drugs, presenting with inadequate glycemic control but without cardiovascular manifestations. The mean DTSQ and ADDQoL scores were 25.46 ± 0.61 and −2.22 ± 1.2, respectively. Freedom to eat, holidays, journeys, leisure, physical health, sex life, freedom to drink, and feelings about the future scored below average. The mean SF-36 physical and mental health scores were 47.78 ± 1.03 and 50.44 ± 1.38, respectively. The mean SF-6D score was 0.59 ± 0.04 (generated retrospectively using SF-36 data). Negative associations were significant between ADDQoL, age (r = −0.16), and body mass index (r = −0.23), p < 0.01. Overall scores did not correlate with diabetes duration (except DTSQ, r = −1.18, p = 0.02) or HbA1c. The results confirm other researchers’ findings in Europe and nearby countries. Our patients seemed satisfied with treatment despite glycemic imbalance and viewed diabetes as a burden on QoL and especially freedom to eat.

Qualidade de vida de pacientes diabéticos do tipo 2 através do SF-36: uma revisão integrativa

“…Ser idoso também afetou mais a qualidade de vida em 5 estudos. 4,9,10,15,16 Usar insulina promoveu qualidade de vida inferior em 4 artigos. 4,9,13,15 .…”

“…4,9,10,15,16 Usar insulina promoveu qualidade de vida inferior em 4 artigos. 4,9,13,15 . A obesidade afetou negativamente a qualidade de vida em 2 estudos.…”

“…14,15 Em apenas um estudo o item "ser casado" trouxe piora na qualidade de vida 10 , e em uma amostra em insegurança alimentar, não sendo possível fazer correlações. A hipertensão foi a comorbidade mais presente em cinco estudos 4,9,[14][15][16] .…”

New strategies of diagnostic and therapeutic approach to emergencies in the evolution of patients with diabetes mellitus (Review)

“…In clinical trials and in practice, bicarbonate administration in DKA has not been shown to be useful in the clinical and biochemical recovery of patients and it is even associated with delayed disappearance of ketone bodies and lactate levels. In addition, bicarbonate can depress cardiac activity, and increase intravascular volume at risk of pulmonary edema as it is hypertonic and hyperosmolar (12)(13)(14)(15)(16).…”

Insulin resistance quantified by the value of HOMA‑IR and cardiovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes

“…It is manifested especially in the tissues that depend on the action of insulin for intracellular transport of glucose: liver, muscle and adipose tissue. The effects of IR are, however, multiple, as insulin exerts physiological actions on carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism, as well as on endothelial function ( 2 ).…”