జెరోంటాలజీ & జెరియాట్రిక్ పరిశోధన

నైరూప్య

Exploration Of Quality Of Life Of Diabetic Patients In State Retirement Homes In Turkey

Seren Buzpinar Sumer, Ismail Kasim, Rabia Kahveci, Umit Deniz Dursun, Sebahat Gucuk, Irfan Sencan and Adem Ozkara

Aims: We investigated diabetes mellitus among the elderly living in state retirement homes and determined their quality of life. Methods: Our study was conducted on 134 volunteers out of 188 diagnosed with diabetes mellitus who met the inclusion criteria and lived in state retirement homes in Ankara, between February 2013 and April 2013. A survey of sociodemographic characteristics was performed. Examination results were recorded. The EuroQol 5D, a visual analogue scale, and the Audit of Diabetes Dependent Quality of Life scale were performed to assess the overall quality of life. Lastly, all volunteers underwent full physical examination. Results: The average age was 79.37 ± 7.70 years. A statistically significant difference was observed between males and females between quality of life assessment groups (if they did not have diabetes) in Audit of Diabetes Dependent Quality of Life scores (p < 0.001). A statistically significant difference was observed in EuroQol 5D and Audit of Diabetes Dependent Quality of Life scores in the types of drug used (p = 0.030, p < 0.001 respectively). Conclusions: We suggest that health professionals, especially primary healthcare professionals, should conduct regular health examinations and perform more regular follow-up of patients residing in retirement homes.