Quality of life in patients with diabetes – limited activity hinders women more

Abstract

Introduction/Objective Diabetes mellitus and its chronic complications impair quality of life (QoL) when compared to the one of the general population. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of > 14 unhealthy days per month among the patients with diabetes in Serbia and to determine the association of the socio-demographic characteristics and health characteristics with the total of > 14 unhealthy days. Methods Serbian version of a generic self-administered questionnaire from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC-HRQOL-4) was used for data collection in all three levels of care. Results The study involved 4898 patients with diabetes, 2283 (46.6%) men and 2611 (53.4%) women. Overall mean age was 57.3 ± 12.2 years with over one fifth (23.2 %) were younger than 50 years. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that age > 65 (OR:1.575, 95%CI 1.100–2.256), being a woman (OR: 1.287, 95% CI 1.042–1.588), lower education (OR: 1.383, 95%CI 1.091–1.754), felt depressed ≥ 14 days (OR: 3.689, 95% CI 2.221–6.128), felt anxious ≥ 14 days (OR: 1.749, 95% CI 1.113–2.749), poor sleep ≥ 14 days (OR:2.161, 95%CI 1.569–2.988), fair or poor self-rated health ≥ 14 days (OR: 4.322, 95%CI 3.474–5.376) were associated with unhealthy days ≥ 14 days. The strongest negative association was observed between limited physical activity ≥ 14 days and a decrease in the QoL of people with diabetes (OR: 22.176, 95%CI 10.971–44.824). Conclusion This study highlights association between impaired QoL in patients with diabetes and physical activity limitations. Limited physical activity is the factor with the greatest negative impact on the QoL particularly in older, less educated, and women with diabetes. © 2023, Serbia Medical Society. All rights reserved.