ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, HRQOL OF DIABETIC PATIENTS USING EURO-QOL-5D INSTRUMENT IN QUETTA, PAKISTAN

Objective: The study intends to determine Health Related Quality of Life of diabetes out-patients by using EQ-5D scale. Methodology: A questionnaire based, cross sectional study design was used to evaluate the HRQoL of diabetic patients in different outpatient clinics of Quetta, Pakistan. A convenience sampling technique was used to collect the data. A sample of 332 diabetic patients was selected for participation in the study. Euro-QoL-5D instrument was used to measure HRQoL of diabetes patients. Coded data was entered in SPSS version 20. Inferential statistics (Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis tests, p < 0.05) were used to assess the significance among study variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate how well clinical characteristics initially statistically significant variables predict health status measured by EQ-5D scores or how much each variable affect health state. Results: The mean age of study subjects was 53.8±11.9 with majority had matriculation as their education status. The cohort was predominantly represented by Type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients 321(96.7%) with uncontrolled diabetes 191 (57.5%) and with an average of their diabetes duration of 8.38±6.66 years. All demographic and disease characteristics were found to be statistically significant to affect HRQoL whereas upon regression educational status, type of therapy and glucose control were influencing factors. Conclusion: The study concluded treatment types, complications and glucose control have been some important factors in predicting the low health related quality of life of diabetic patients. It is recommended to change treatment modalities towards single and/or oral anti-diabetic drugs and without insulin therapy to make better the patients' quality of life. Measures regarding the prevention of blood glucose control should be educated to patients to avoid the complications in future life of diabetic patients and it would enhance their health related quality of life. Key words: Health Related Quality of Life, Diabetes Mellitus, out-patients, Pakistan, EQ-5D.