A cross-sectional study on the quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes attending a General Hospital in Lagos State.

Introduction: diabetes mellitus is a progressive chronic disease that requires long-term management. This exerts a significant burden on patients, impacting their quality of life (QoL). The study aimed to assess the QoL and its determinants among patients with diabetes mellitus attending a general hospital in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods: a total of 306 patients diagnosed with diabetic mellitus were consecutively recruited from the clinic within the three-month study period. The World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) tool was used for data collection. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the association between QoL and some clinical variables. Results: the majority of the respondents, 79.1% (n=242), were 50 years old and above, with a mean age of 53.7 + 0.6; 62.4% (n=191) females, 82.7% (n=253) married, and 56.2% (n=172) traders. The mean total QoL score was 52.9%. More than half, 55% (n= 163) of the patients had a good overall QoL score, while 76% (n= 233) perceived they had a good QoL. On multivariate regression analysis, QoL was significantly associated with normal fasting plasma glucose (aOR: 0.383, 95% CI: 0.191-0.768; p= 0.007); and adherence with therapy guidelines (aOR: 4.565, 95% CI: 2.375-8.774; p= 0.000). Conclusion: this study suggests that compliance with therapy guidelines was associated with the greatest odds of having good QoL. With our finding that higher levels of education were significantly associated with good QoL, it is recommended that health literacy become part of the management of patients with diabetes to enhance their QoL. There is a need to specifically target and improve the QoL of underweight patients with diabetes, as they are at a higher risk of having poor QoL, when compared with their overweight and obese counterparts that receive more attention.