Health-related quality of life in Iranian patients with type 2 diabetes: An updated meta-analysis

Abstract

Diabetes is the most common metabolic causes of increased mortality rate due to its multiple complications. Diabetes, thus, influences patients' quality of life because of its resultant physical disabilities and mental health problems. This study aimed to investigate health-related quality of life among Iranian patients with type 2 diabetes. In this meta-analysis study, a search was conducted using the keywords: Quality of Life, Health-Related Quality of Life, QoL, HRQoL, Shortform questionnaire 36, SF-36, Diabetes and Iran in the national and international databases such as SID, MagIran, ISI/Web of Science, PubMed [including Medline], and Scopus between 2011 and 2018. Based on the heterogeneity of data, the random effects model was used. Data was analyzed using the Stata software version 14. Overall, 17 studies were eligible, with a total sample size of 5472 patients, and they showed that the mean score of the physical dimension in patients with type 2 diabetes (53.5, 95% CI: 43.1-63.9) was less than the mean of mental dimension score (54.5, 95% CI: 47-61.9). By increasing age of the samples, the mean of the HRQoL score of the Iranian patients with type 2 diabetes was significantly decreased (p = 0.015). The highest and lowest scores for the quality of life subscales were social function and general health, respectively. In conclusion, patients with type 2 diabetes have been shown to have moderate quality of life. Providing solutions to improve the quality of life in this group of patients, especially in the physical aspect, is required.

Keywords: Diabetes; Health-related quality of life; Iran; Meta-analysis.