Health related quality of life among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients of Nepal: a cross-sectional study

Background: To assess HRQOL and its associated factors among patients with T2DM attending Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu. Methods: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 72 T2DM patients selected using convenience sampling. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and WHOQOL-BREF tool. WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire (a standard tool developed by WHO) consists of 26 items divided into 4 domains i.e. physical health, psychological health, social relationships and environment. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation) and Chi-square test for associations. Results: The mean age of respondents was 52.31±11.15 years. The mean overall WHOQOL-BREF score was 83.54±7.46. Among domains, social relationship had the highest mean score, while environmental domain had the lowest. Most respondents (90.3%) reported excellent quality of life, while 9.7% had moderate quality of life. The age with physical health domain and marital status with social relationships domain have strong significant association at P value 0.035 and 0.003 respectively. Conclusions: The study found relatively good HRQOL among T2DM patients, though variations existed across domains. Focused interventions targeting physical health, older age groups, and social support systems are recommended to further improve quality of life.