Evaluation of Health-Related Quality of Life according to Carbohydrate Metabolism Status : A Spanish Population-Based Study (Di@bet.es Study)‎

Abstract EN

Objective.

To evaluate the association between diabetes mellitus and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) controlled for several sociodemographic and anthropometric variables, in a representative sample of the Spanish population.

Methods.

A population-based, cross-sectional, and cluster sampling study, with the entire Spanish population as the target population.

Five thousand and forty-seven participants (2162/2885 men/women) answered the HRQOL short form 12-questionnaire (SF-12).

The physical (PCS-12) and the mental component summary (MCS-12) scores were assessed.

Subjects were divided into four groups according to carbohydrate metabolism status: normal, prediabetes, unknown diabetes (UNKDM), and known diabetes (KDM).

Logistic regression analyses were conducted.

Results.

Mean PCS-12/MCS-12 values were 50.9±8.5/ 47.6±10.2, respectively.

Men had higher scores than women in both PCS-12 (51.8±7.2 versus 50.3±9.2; P<0.001) and MCS-12 (50.2±8.5 versus 45.5±10.8; P<0.001).

Increasing age and obesity were associated with a poorer PCS-12 score.

In women lower PCS-12 and MCS-12 scores were associated with a higher level of glucose metabolism abnormality (prediabetes and diabetes), (P<0.0001 for trend), but only the PCS-12 score was associated with altered glucose levels in men (P<0.001 for trend).

The Odds Ratio adjusted for age, body mass index (BMI) and educational level, for a PCS-12 score below the median was 1.62 (CI 95%: 1.2–2.19; P<0.002) for men with KDM and 1.75 for women with KDM (CI 95%: 1.26–2.43; P<0.001), respectively.

Conclusion.

Current study indicates that increasing levels of altered carbohydrate metabolism are accompanied by a trend towards decreasing quality of life, mainly in women, in a representative sample of Spanish population.