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Factors associated with quality of life in patients with diabetic hypoglycaemia
Author(s) -
Huang MeiChuan,
Hung ChichHsiu,
Chen ChungYuan,
Hung WeiWen,
Liang HsiuLing
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/jocn.15183
Subject(s) - medicine , checklist , observational study , quality of life (healthcare) , diabetes mellitus , hypoglycemia , insulin , regimen , disease , affect (linguistics) , cross sectional study , pediatrics , gerontology , nursing , psychology , endocrinology , communication , pathology , cognitive psychology
Aims and Objectives To identify determinants of quality of life among patients who had experienced hypoglycaemia and who were undergoing insulin treatment. Background Patients with diabetes receiving insulin treatment are at high risk for hypoglycaemia, which tends to affect their quality of life. Design With a cross‐sectional and observational study design (see the STROBE checklist and Appendix S1). Methods One hundred and fifty patients with type 2 diabetes who had received insulin treatment and had experienced hypoglycaemia (<70 mg/dl) in the last 6 months were recruited. Data were collected from May 2016–February 2018 using the Knowledge of Hypoglycaemia Scale, Fear of Hypoglycaemia Scale, Social Support Scale and the simplified Taiwanese version of the Quality of Life Scale developed by the World Health Organization. Results Factors found to be associated with quality of life in patients with hypoglycaemia included having an educational level of senior high school or above, being on an insulin regimen only, engaging in regular exercise, diabetes complications, fear of hypoglycaemia and greater social support, which accounted for 28.5% of the total variance. Conclusions During the process of glycaemic control, patients inevitably experience hypoglycaemic episodes. Therefore, healthcare providers should assist patients with disease management to improve their quality of life. Future studies should also recruit patients who claim to have experienced hypoglycaemic symptoms, rather than considering only those with blood glucose levels below 70 mg/dl, to expand the generalisability of the findings. Future studies may also focus on the management of hypoglycaemia in patients on an insulin regimen, and on examining the effect of health education programmes on prevention of hypoglycaemia. Relevance to clinical practice The present findings could provide a reference for healthcare providers to consolidate nursing care guidelines and to improve such patients' quality of life.