Quality of life in relation to comorbidity among diabetic patients followed for three years in Swedish primary health care.
The aim of this study was to follow health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in diabetic subjects over a three-year period in relation to their medical situation. Forty-eight subjects 42-81 years of age in 1992 were identified as those responding to the HRQOL questionnaire on both occasions from a larger study of 341 diabetic patients in 1992 and 413 in 1995 in Stockholm County. Age- and sex-matched controls were taken from randomly collected samples of the general Swedish population. HRQOL was assessed by the SWED-QUAL (the Swedish Health-Related Quality of Life Survey). Medical data were extracted from medical records at community health centres. Pearson's correlation coefficient for SWED-QUAL results over time exceeded 0.60 for seven of the ten scales (p < 0.001). A significant difference between 1992 and 1995 was found only for "Physical functioning" (p < 0.01). The general deterioration in health seen in medical records was accompanied by a decrease in the "Sleep problems" scale. In conclusion, worse outcome was noted only for "Physical functioning", while deterioration in health according to medical records was related to a worse outcome with respect to "Sleep problems". However, as the sample was small and not randomly selected, the results should be interpreted with caution and need confirmation in further studies.
Wandell
P E
PE
Family Medicine Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet Novum, Huddinge, Sweden. per.wandell@kem.ds.sll.se
Brorsson
B
B
Aberg
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015897:Comorbidity; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D014505:Urban Population