Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Mar 5;20(1):32.
doi: 10.1186/s12902-020-0519-4.

Longitudinal assessment of the health-related quality of life among older people with diabetes: results of a nationwide study in New Zealand

Seyed Morteza Shamshirgaran  1   2 , Christine Stephens  3 , Fiona Alpass  3 , Nayyereh Aminisani  4   5
Affiliations

Longitudinal assessment of the health-related quality of life among older people with diabetes: results of a nationwide study in New Zealand

Seyed Morteza Shamshirgaran et al. BMC Endocr Disord. .

Abstract

Background: The current work examined experiences of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) among older adults with a diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) over time compared to those without a diagnoses DM.

Methods: The sample was drawn from six biennial waves of the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement survey, a prospective population-based cohort study of older adults 55-70 years at baseline. Data on sociodemographic factors, health behaviours, chronic disease diagnoses and physical and mental HRQOL (SF-12v2) were obtained using six biennial surveys administered 2006-2016. Generalised Estimating Equation models, adjusted for time-constant and -varying factors, were employed to compare HRQOL and its determinants over time for older adults with and without a diagnosis of DM.

Results: DM was negatively associated with physical HRQOL [β (95% CI) - 7.43 (- 8.41, - 6.44)] with older adults affected by DM reporting scores 7.4 points lower than those without DM. Similarly, the mean Mental HRQOL score was lower among those affected by DM [β = - 4.97 (- 5.93, - 4.01)] however, scores increased over time for both groups (p < 0.001). Greater age, more chronic conditions, sight and sleep problems, obesity, lower annual income, and fewer years of education were predictors of poorer HRQOL among older adults.

Conclusions: Older adults affected by diabetes experienced poorer physical and mental HRQOL compared to those not affected when controlling for a range of sociodemographic and health related indices. A management aim must be to minimise the gap between two groups, particularly as people age.

Keywords: Community-dwelling; Diabetes mellitus; Longitudinal study; Older adults; Quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow Diagram of Study Participants
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Changes in physical and mental dimensions of SF12, 2006–2016. a mean SF-PCS by wave in people with/without DM. b mean SF12-MCS by wave in people with/without DM
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Danaei G, Finucane MM, Lu Y, Singh GM, Cowan MJ, Paciorek CJ, et al. National, regional, and global trends in fasting plasma glucose and diabetes prevalence since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 370 country-years and 2.7 million participants. Lancet. 2011;378(9785):31–40. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60679-X. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Atlas ID. Brussels, Belgium: International Diabetes Federation; 2013. International Diabetes Federation (IDF). 2017.
    1. Ministry of Health . Virtual diabetes register: estimated diagnosed cases of diabetes by DHB as at December 2013. Wellington: Health Improvement and Health Innovation Resource Centre; 2014.
    1. Joshy G, Simmons D. Epidemiology of diabetes in New Zealand: revisit to a changing landscape. N Z Med J. 2006;119(1235):U1999. - PubMed
    1. Ministary of Health. Annual Data Explorer 2016/17: New Zealand Health Survey [Data File]. 2017. URL: https://minhealthnz.shinyapps.io/nz-health-survey-2016-17-annual-update.