Assessment of the impact of type 2 diabetes on the quality of life by Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality-of-Life (ADDQoL-19)

Together with the epidemic prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM), the burden of this chronic metabolic disorder has serious impact on the quality of life of patients and reduces their life span. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on the Quality of Life (QoL) by Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality-of-Life (ADDQoL-19). A cross-sectional study of 540 adults with T2DM was carried out. We collected socio-economic, demographic, health status, therapeutic and metabolic control data. The instrument used to measure the quality of life was the ADDQoL-19. The study included 411 adult patients [216 (52.6%) men; mean age 59.9. years]. T2DM had a negative impact on QoL in 36.7% of the participants, whereas 67.1% believed that their life would have been better without the presence of T2DM. The mean 'present QoL' score was: 0.6 (SD: 0.9) and the 'diabetes-related' QoL was: -1.8 (SD: 0.8). Diabetes had the most negative average weighted impact on 'freedom to eat' -4.0 (SD: 2.6), and 'family life' -3.9 (SD: 2.7). The results indicate that T2DM has a significant impact on QoL and its assessment is an important tool in the management of this disease. The negative values reflect the general negative impact of diabetes over all 19 examined aspects. These findings are of importance to health professionals and policy makers to identify and implement appropriate interventions in order to achieve better disease management and ultimately to increase the QoL of patients with T2DM.