Health-Related Quality of Life of Diabetic Patients in Tehran

BACKGROUND Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important factor for self-management behaviors of diabetic patients. These behaviors have special importance in preventing complications of diabetes. OBJECTIVES This study has been conducted to evaluate HRQoL of diabetic patients referred to Tehran hospitals. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this descriptive study patients were selected from diabetes clinics of general hospitals in Tehran. A demographic and disease characteristics questionnaire and short-form of health survey (SF-36) were used for the data collection. The data were analyzed with SPSS software. RESULTS 140 diabetic patients with average age of 47.3 ± 12.7 years participated in this study. The range of HRQoL scores in different domains varied from 46.2 ± 13 for general health perceptions to 64.1 ± 26.6 for physical functioning. There were significant differences according to age, sex, educational level, type of diabetes, type of treatment, and different HRQoL dimensions. CONCLUSIONS HRQoL of diabetic patients is related to several variables. Considering of variables will be important for improving HRQoL of diabetic patients.