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.