Quality of Life Among Adolescents with Type I Diabetes Mellitus in Assiut
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- Category: Vol. 80, June 2012
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Quality of Life Among Adolescents with Type I Diabetes Mellitus in Assiut,EMAN M.M. MONAZEA, SAHAR H. TALHA, ETEMAD A. EL-SHEREEF, HOSNIA S. ABD EL-MEGEED and LOBNA F. ELTONY
Abstract
Background: Adolescents with diabetes mellitus type 1 often describe their situation as hard because any chronic condition has an impact on aspect of life in addition to the specific illness demands.
Objective: To assess quality of life (QOL) and associated factors among adolescents with type I diabetes mellitus who attended the Health Insurance Clinic in Assiut city.
Subjects and Methods: A cross sectional study was con-ducted on diabetic students who attended the health insurance Clinic in Assiut between June, 2009 and August 2010. A modified form of Diabetes Quality of life for Youth (DQOLY) questionnaire was used. It consists of 35 items on three subscales: Worry about diabetes (9 items), impact of diabetes (15 items) and satisfaction with treatment and life (11 items). Responses to questions were scored using three-point Likert scale. Lower score indicate a poor quality of life. Cronbach-coefficient of the instrument used was 0.87 indicating its internal consistency reliability. In addition demographic and disease related data were collected.
Results: A total of 396 patients aged 12-18 years (mean SD 14.7±1.9) were included in the study. Males were 54.8%. About 60% of the studied adolescents were worried about their bodies look different because of diabetes and worried to get complications. 69.5% of cases feel physically ill and 46.7% miss school because of diabetes. 43.7% of cases feel embarrassed being in public. Adolescents with diabetes dura-tion from 1-5 years had a higher score of QOL than whose with duration >5 years (88.6±8.2vs. 86.1±7.1, p=0.01). Patients with better metabolic control had a higher score of quality of life than whose with poor control (87.2±8.5vs. 80.3±8.7, p=0.039).
Conclusion: The impact of diabetes was readily apparent affecting physical, school and social functioning of the ado-lescents. Good metabolic control and intensified insulin regimen are associated with a better quality of life. So inter-ventions to improve metabolic control and type of insulin regimen are recommended to improve QOL for all diabetic patients.