Abstract
BackgroundTo investigate the association between social capital and quality of life among type 2 diabetes patients in Anhui province, China.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, 436 adults with type 2 diabetes were interviewed. The two domains of Quality of life, physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS), were measured using the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). A modified instrument scale was used to measure cognitive and structural social capital. Multiple logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between social capital and quality of life, adjusting for social economic status and risk factors for health.Results24.3 % of participants (106) were in poor PCS and 25.0 % (109) in poor MCS. The proportions of participants who had low cognitive and structural social capital were 47.0 % (205) and 64.4 % (281), respectively. Results of logistic regression models showed that cognitive social capital was positively associated with PCS (OR = 1.84; 95 % CI: 1.12, 3.02) and MCS (OR = 1.65; 95 % CI: 1.03, 2.66). However, the associations between structural social capital and PCS (OR = 0.80, 95 % CI: 0.48, 1.34) and MCS (OR = 0.62; 95 % CI: 0.38, 1.01) were not statistically significant.ConclusionsIt is the first study in China to investigate associations between quality of life and social capital in type 2 diabetes. Findings document that cognitive social capital is associated with the quality of life of type 2 diabetes patients. Our study suggests that the social capital theory may provide a new approach to increase physical resources in diabetes prevention and control, especially in Low and Middle Income countries (LMICs).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2138-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
To investigate the association between social capital and quality of life among type 2 diabetes patients in Anhui province, China
Social capital may be more important in the Chinese culture because the general nature of guanxi, which is similar to social capital, plays an important impact on social and economic relationships [23]
Based on the cutoff points for physical component summary (PCS) (51.9) and mental component summary (MCS) (67.4), 106 (24.3 %) participants were in poor PCS and 109 (25.0 %) in poor MCS
Summary
To investigate the association between social capital and quality of life among type 2 diabetes patients in Anhui province, China. According to the Chinese culture, diabetes patients may buffer physical and mental suffering of diabetes by reconstructing their social networks and obtaining material and emotional social support from their social networks. No studies have been conducted in China to assess the association between social capital and quality of life among diabetes patients. The objectives of this study were to describe the relationship between social capital and the quality of life among type 2 diabetes patients in Anhui province, China. We hypothesized that social capital was positively associated with the quality of life in type 2 diabetes patients
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