Factors Influencing Quality of Life among Overweight and Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
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Abstract
Purpose: To examine the influence of income, health literacy, access to healthcare services, residential environment, and family support on the quality of life of overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
Design: Cross-sectional predictive research design.
Methods: The sample consisted of 101 patients with type 2 diabetes who were overweight and/or obese and attending a diabetes clinic at a tertiary hospital in Eastern Region. The inclusion criteria were: aged 20 years and older, body mass index (BMI) ≥ 23 kg/m², diagnosis of type 2 diabetes for at least 3 months, and current treatment with oral hypoglycemic agents. The research tools included a personal information questionnaire, a health record form, the Short Versions of the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU-Q16), a Health Service Access Questionnaire, the Neighborhood Scale, the Family APGAR Questionnaire, and the Modified Diabetes Quality of Life Questionnaire (MDQoL-17). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stepwise multiple regression analysis.
Main findings: The participants had an average age of 54.24 years (SD = 9.04), and 54.5% were female. Among them, 86.1% reported good quality of life, 77.2% had sufficient health literacy, 91.1% had high access to healthcare services, 89.1% had abundant environmental resources in their residential areas, and 100% had good family support. Health literacy (β = .21, p < .05), access to healthcare services (β = .20, p < .05), and family support (β = .20, p < .05) were significant predictors of quality of life, explaining 15% of the variance (R² = .15).
Conclusion and recommendations: The results of this study support the Social Determinants of Health framework. Health literacy, access to services, and family support significantly predicted the quality of life of overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes. The findings suggest that nurses should implement nursing interventions to enhance health literacy and facilitate the accessibility of health services among this patient group. Family involvement in nursing intervention should also be encouraged.
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