Vitamin D deficiency is associated with poorer satisfaction with diabetes-related treatment and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the possible association of vitamin D deficiency with self-reported treatment satisfaction and health-related quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: We performed a sub-analysis of a previous study and included a total of 292 type 2 diabetic patients. We evaluated treatment satisfaction and health-related quality of life through specific tools: the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as 25 (OH) D serum levels < 15 ng/mL. RESULTS: Multivariable linear regression models were used to estimate the relationship of vitamin D deficiency with both outcomes once adjusted for self-reported patient characteristics. Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with the final score of the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire and the single “diabetes-specific quality of life” dimension of the Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life (p = 0.0198 and p = 0.0070, respectively). However, lower concentrations of 25-OH vitamin D were not associated with the overall quality of life score or the perceived frequency of hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows the association between vitamin D deficiency and both the self-reported diabetes treatment satisfaction and the diabetes-specific quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes.