Quality of life assessment and therapeutic adherence in Mexican patients with type 2 diabetes

Patients with diabetes mellitus experience physical health needs, but also psychological health needs, as some studies have suggested that addressing the psychological variables associated with diabetes mellitus may improve the biochemical parameters of the disease.

To assess the quality of life (QoL) and therapeutic adherence (TA) in Mexican patients with controlled and uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), as well as related QoL sociodemographic and clinical variables.

201 people with T2DM answered a battery of psychological tests to assess TA (Therapeutic Adherence Survey or TAS-15), QoL (WHOQOL-BREF-16) and disease-related quality of life (DRQoL-27), aside from an expressly designed questionnaire that gathered sociodemographic data and took information from medical records into consideration. The average age of the participants was 65.12 ± 11.617 years and 57.2% were female, who have suffered from diabetes for 13.4 years on average ± 8.088 and an average 158.84 mg/dL ± 61.913 fasting plasma glucose.

The correlation analyses revealed that a higher perception of QoL, the lower the perception that having diabetes affected QoL (p<0.01); the higher the TA, the lower the QoL (p<0.01); and the higher the TA, the lower the perception that having diabetes affected QoL (p<0.01). The participants with an uncontrolled T2DM exhibited a better QoL than those that manage their glucose levels (p = 0.015). The participants’ level of education had a positive effect on QoL (β = 0.163, IC 95%: 0.429─3.415, p = 0.012), whereas the DRQoL had a negative effect (β = -0.546, IC 95%: -0.127─-0.080, p = 0.001).

If the TA of patients with T2DM increases, the overall QoL as well as the DRQoL will improve. Hence, these variables must be considered as therapeutic targets in clinical practice.