Glycemia and the quality of well-being in patients with diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the cross-sectional relationships among self-reported frequencies of symptomatic hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, HbA1c, and symptoms in the Quality of Well-Being Self-Administered (QWB-SA), and to examine the associations among these measures of glycemia and health-utility scores.


METHODS
The study group included 1522 patients with diabetes who attended University of Michigan Health System clinics. Published studies were reviewed to identify symptoms in the QWB-SA that might be associated with measures of glycemia. Linear-regression analyses were performed to evaluate the strength of the associations among the frequency of self-reported measures of glycemia, QWB-SA symptoms, and QWB-SA-derived health-utility scores.


RESULTS
Frequency of hyperglycemic symptoms was associated with 3% of the variance in the QWB-SA-derived health-utility score in type-1 diabetes and with 5% of the variance in type-2 diabetes. Frequency of hypoglycemic symptoms was not associated with the QWB-SA-derived health-utility score in type-1 diabetes but was associated with 1% of the variance in type-2 diabetes. HbAlc levels were not significantly associated with QWB-SA-derived health-utility scores. After controlling for age, gender, and complications, frequency of hyperglycemic symptoms was significantly associated with QWB-SA-derived health-utility scores in type-1 and type-2 diabetes.


CONCLUSIONS
Reported frequency of hyperglycemic symptoms is associated with symptoms included in the QWB-SA and with QWB-SA-derived health-utility scores. The QWB-SA may be an appropriate measure to assess the health burden of hyperglycemia.
Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
B P
BP
Tabaei
J
J
Shill-Novak
M
M
Brandle
R
R
Burke
R M
RM
Kaplan
W H
WH
Herman
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011788:Quality of Life; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile