HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN PERSONS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS ATTENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN TEACHING HOSPITAL, BENIN CITY, EDO-STATE, NIGERIA.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important Patient-Reported Outcome Measure (PROM) for evaluating outcomes in patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM). With the rising prevalence of Type 2 diabetes worldwide, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria, there is a need to study the impact of the disease and its treatment on the quality of life of the patients.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the HRQoL of persons with type 2 diabetes and determine the medical factors and socio-demographic variables associated with it.

Methods: 150 patients with Type 2 diabetes were recruited for this Institution-based cross-sectional study. Seventy-five (75) age and sex-matched controls were also recruited for the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic and clinical variables. The World Health Organization quality of life-abbreviated tool (WHOQoLBREF) was used to assess the quality of life of the respondents. Physical examination and anthropometric measurements were done according to standard protocols. Samples were collected for fasting blood glucose and HbA1c. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to identify the predictors of HRQoL among persons with type 2 diabetes.

Results: The study population was predominantly females (68.7%) with a female: male ratio of 2:1. The mean (SD) overall HRQoL scores in subjects with type 2 diabetes and control sub-groups were 59.5(11.9) and 66.7(10.9) respectively, (p= <0.001). The mean HRQoL scores across all four domains were also lower in the type 2 diabetic arm compared with the controls. The factors significantly associated with HRQoL were: Age, educational level, level of income, duration of illness, presence of chronic complications, glycaemic control and co-morbidities (p <0.05). Older age and poor glycaemic control were identified as significant predictors of poor quality of life.

Conclusion: The findings from this study indicate that all dimensions of the HRQoL of persons with type 2 diabetes were reduced compared to their age and sex-matched controls. This entails the need for interventions that will address the associated factors, beyond the provision of standard treatments so as to improve the quality of life of these patients.