Health-related quality of life and glycaemic control in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Singapore

Diabet. Med. 29, e241–e248 (2012) Aims To investigate the health‐related quality of life of patients with diabetes mellitus in Singapore and its associations with diabetes‐related characteristics and glycaemic control. Methods An interviewer‐administered, cross‐sectional survey was conducted in a sample of 301 adult diabetes patients under primary care. The survey questionnaire included both a generic health‐related quality of life measure, the Euroqol 5‐D and a diabetes‐specific instrument, the Audit of Diabetes‐dependent Quality of Life. Patients’ most recent HbA1c values were extracted from their medical records. Results After excluding patients who lacked the 90‐day HbA1c test result, the final number of responses analysed was 282. Pain/discomfort was the most common complaint among the five Euroqol 5‐D domains (by 28.0% of the respondents). Lack of freedom to eat was the Audit of Diabetes‐dependent Quality of Life domain with the greatest negative average weighted impact (= −3.8, on a scale of −9 to 3). A significant association was observed between Audit of Diabetes‐dependent Quality of Life average weighted impact and both duration of diabetes and use of insulin. A negative correlation was found between health‐related quality of life and HbA1c values in both health‐related quality of life measures (both r = −0.2, P = 0.001). Conclusions Patients with diabetes in primary‐care settings frequently reported problems with pain/discomfort and restrictions in diet. Poorer health‐related quality of life was found to be associated with higher HbA1c values. The chronicity of diabetes and insulin therapy may have a negative impact on patients’ diabetes‐related health‐related quality of life. This study indicates the importance of achieving better disease management to improve the health‐related quality of life of patients with diabetes.