Dados do Trabalho

Título

Influence of Depression, Independence in Activities of Daily Living and clinical variables on the quality of life of elderly people with type 2 Diabetes mellitus

Resumo

Introduction: Considering the currently increasing number of elderly individuals in society, it is necessary to emphasize that these individuals deserve to grow older with autonomy and good quality of life (QoL). Objective: To identify the factors, especially modifiable ones, that affect the quality of life (QoL) of elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (EIDM2). Method: A cross-sectional study evaluated EIDM2 with emphasis on QoL, sociodemographic and clinical data, including depression (geriatric depression scale 15), family functionality/dysfunction (APGAR questionnaire), activities of daily living (KATZ index). Multiple linear regression was performed to assess the impact of factors on the five domains of QoL (WHOQOL-BREF). Results: Two hundred and fifty-three EIDM2 were assessed for possible study enrollment. The mean age was of 69.04 (± 6.52) years; the mean diagnostic time of DM2 was 15.49 (± 9.86) years; the highest mean score (on WHOQOL-bref) was in “social relationships”domain of 70.00 (± 15.92); and the lowest mean score in was “physical”domain of 60.74 (± 16.92). 67.9% of the individuals were females; 88.9% of the elderly individuals considered religion to be important; 48.8% of them said that they were not financially self-sufficient; 72.2% had their self-perceived health status as NOT good; 82.5% received polypharmacy; 40.1% of them had high HbA1c levels; 86.9% of the elderly reported absent family dysfunctions; 71.4% showed absent dependence for activities of daily living; 71.4% of them had absent depression. Factors that positively affected QoL were: absent depression (in all five domains), absent family dysfunction (in 3 domains), and absent dependence on activities of daily living (ADL) (in 3 domains). Conclusion: The modifiable factors that influenced QoL of EIDM2 were depression and family functionality. Furthermore, to our knowledge, this is the first study to show the importance of family functionality in QoL of EIDM2. Although the most feasible approach to improve QoL is probably to intervene in the above mentioned modifiable factors, it needs to be assessed by other prospective studies.