Health Related Quality of Life in Type 2 Diabetic Patients at Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

Introduction: The research was conducted to evaluate the health-related quality of life in individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus at Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital, located in Lusaka, Zambia. Diabetes mellitus has become a serious global public health concern with huge impact on human life and health expenditures (Khan et al., 2020). With many people affected, diabetes mellitus has an impact on individual’s functional capacities and quality of life, which leads to significant morbidity and mortality (Rantahal et al., 2015). Methodology: The research employed an analytical cross-sectional research design to assess the health-related quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes at Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital (LMUTH) in Lusaka, Zambia. It involved a comprehensive review of current knowledge and the gathering of primary sources to build a theoretical model based on existing evidence. The study sample consisted of 134 respondents, and data were collected using structured interview schedules. Simple random sampling method was used to select the study respondents, and a sampling frame was employed every day and randomly sampled some respondents. To assess and identify factors associated with health related quality of life in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, Chi-square and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed through SPSS version 23. The Odds Ratio with a 95% confidence interval was computed to determine the level of association. The variables with p-value less than 5%, in the multivariate analysis were considered as statistically associated, association between covariates and Health Related Quality of Life. Results: The findings revealed that a significant portion, 43.3%, of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients at LMUTH reported a low quality of life. This low quality of life was found to be associated with various socio-demographic factors. Specifically, individuals who were not employed, lacked regular .....