Health-related quality of life among rural adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study

Background: Previous reports about health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) concentrated on general patients rather than patients in rural areas with poor infrastructure and limited resources. Thus, the aims of this study were to evaluate the HRQoL of diabetics in the countryside and explore its influencing factors. Methods: A total of 23 053 participants aged from 18 to 79 years were drawn from the Henan Rural Cohort Study for this cross-sectional study. The HRQoL of participants were assessed by utility index and VAS-score of European Quality of Life Five Dimension Five Level Scale (EQ-5D-5L) instrument. Binary logistic regression, generalized linear and tobit regression models were used to estimate the potential influencing factors on HRQoL. Results: This study (23 053 participants) included 2231 T2DM patients with a crude prevalence of 9.68%. The utility index and VAS-score in health group were 0.9 +/- 0.10 and 78.85 +/- 14.53, while in T2DM group were 0.93 +/- 0.15 and 74.09 +/- 16.09, respectively. In total, most diabetics reported problem about pain/discomfort dimension. Being old, poverty, low physical activity, and with comorbidities was negatively related to HRQoL of diabetics, while high educational level was positively related to HRQoL. Conclusion: HRQoL of rural T2DM patients depended on several sociodemographic factors. More attention should be paid to diabetics with poor socioeconomic status in rural areas.