ABSTRACT
To determine health-related quality of life (HRQL) in people with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus in Sudan, a total of 89 patients aged 25-55 years and with > or = 5 years diabetes duration was studied. HRQL was measured with a 68-item questionnaire from the Medical Outcomes Study. Late diabetic complications were assessed, and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was measured to assess the metabolic control. Of the patients (m = 36; f = 53), only 13.5%, had good metabolic control ((HbA1c) < 7.5%). These patients rated their HRQL as worse than patients with poor metabolic control ((HbA1c) > 10%). However, the latter were significantly younger, had shorter diabetes duration, and were free from late complications. Overall, 49.4% of the patients had one or more of the late diabetic complications. These patients rated their HRQL significantly lower when compared with patients without complications. Older age and the presence of late diabetic complications were the most important predictors for HRQL. It is concluded that self-rated HRQL in this group of patients is generally low. Improving diabetes knowledge and the metabolic control since early in the course of the disease, will not only retard the development of late complications, but will certainly improve the HRQL of these patients.
