Thesis:

Assesment of health-related quality of life in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients at Moi county referral hospital, Taita-Taveta county in Kenya

An individual's perception of their current state of health in connection to their hopes, expectations, ideals, and fears in the cultural and societal contexts in which they live is defined as their health-related quality of life. Although diabetes was once thought to be an affluent-only disease, it is now more commonly seen in low- and middle-income nations like Kenya. Non-transmittable diseases are becoming more and more of an issue in Sub-Saharan Africa as a result of changing lifestyle habits like smoking, inactivity, and poor diet. The study's goal was to determine which sociodemographic and health- related characteristics of the patients at Moi County Referral Hospital in Taita-Taveta County with T2DM (type 2 diabetes mellitus) were associated with Q.O.L. (quality of life), as well as how this condition affected the patients. Thus, the objectives of this study were to determine the Q.O.L. of the diabetics and identify the patient-related characteristics associated with the Q.O.L. The study adopted the ADDQOL (audit of diabetes-dependent quality of life) tool with 19 items, version 2006. The tool was developed by Professor Clare Bradley in the English version; the researcher did not make any alterations to the tool, and license number HPR4458 was issued to utilize the tool in this study. The 165 patients were picked using a systematic random sampling method. 127 (77 percent) of the study's participants reported that living without diabetes mellitus would improve their HRQoL (health-related quality of life), whereby they had a mean quality of life score of -1.88, roughly corresponding to "quality of life would be much better in the absence of diabetes" at a score of -2. According to the AWI (average weighted impact) score of -4.48, type 2 diabetes mellitus had an unfavourable impact on the patients' QOL in terms of their health. The researcher used logistic regression to associate health-related characteristics such as foot ulcers or sores (p = 0.005; a OR = 7.348) and numbness or pain in hands, legs, or feet (p = 0.001; a OR = 0.155) with low quality of life. The other patient characteristics (sociodemographic) were not associated with quality of life. The 19 domain-specific elements were scored by the study participants, and "sex life" was considered to be the most essential and negatively impacted WI (weighted impact) score of -5.14. A higher score value in the impact score per life aspect (weighted impact) indicated that the life aspect of a patient was negatively impacted by type 2 diabetes, and at the same time, it was considered to be the most important life aspect for the patient. In summary, this study showed that the general HRQoL (health-related quality of life) of type 2 diabetic patients in Taita-Taveta County's MCRH (Moi County referral hospital) was low. Although the majority of research found no association between socio-demographic factors and health-related quality of life, it is still important to focus on the often-overlooked health-related characteristics of diabetic patients and how they affect quality of life.