Effect of quality of life improvement on type 2 diabetes patients’ self-esteem

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of the quality of life (QoL) improvement on their QoL and self-esteem.

METHODS: This was a random controlled clinical trial study on 123 type 2 diabetes patients admitted to the Diabetes Clinic in Imam Khomeini Hospital at Ardebil, Iran from April 2009 to June 2010. The 30-70 years old participants are afflicted with type 2 diabetes, and randomly divided into 2 groups (experimental group n=61, and control group n=62). The questionnaires were composed of sociodemographic status, Farrel … Grant, and Rosenberg’s self-esteem questionnaires and the quality of life (QoL) improvement plan was codified to educate and evaluate them. A p<0.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS: Our study showed that subjects in the experimental group had low self-esteem (13%) before QOL training, and they had moderate self-esteem after the intervention (39%), however, the control group had moderate self-esteem (62.5%) in the pretest, and changed to low self-esteem (12.9%) in the post-test, and there was significant difference in the previous and next intervention (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION: The QoL improvement had positive effects on diabetic’s self-esteem, and QOL as improved may help to reduce the side effects of type 2 diabetes process.