Diabetes mellitus (DM) is defined as a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas fails to produce sufficient insulin which is type 1 diabetes or when the body cannot effectively use the produced insulin which is called type 2 diabetes. If it is not controlled, diabetes will result with hyperglycemia or raised blood sugar and over time leads to serious damage to the body’s systems, particularly the nerves and blood vessels [1, 2].
Quality of life (QOL) is defined as individuals’ perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns [3]. It is a known fact that DM is associated with increased morbidity and mortality globally. However, its effect on functional health status and sense of wellbeing is still not well addressed, particularly in developing country where the prevalence is rising rapidly [2].
Different scholars have conducted study on QOL of patients diagnosed with diabetes and had reported that diabetes has a negative impact on HRQOL. However, since the tool used by these researchers to measure HRQOL was different among the studies and some of the studies have used small sample size, it is still arguable to know the correct finding about the QOL among patient with diagnosed type 2 diabetes [4,5,6,7,8]. Contrary to rapid increase of type 2 diabetes prevalence, studies conducted in developing countries are few in number and majority of them focused on both type of the diabetes, while those studies conducted on type 2 diabetes were done among patients who have experienced only specific DM complication [4, 6, 9, 10].
In Ethiopia, there is an increment in the trend of diabetes prevalence since 1980 with currently prevalence of 3.8%. It also accounts 1% of total deaths of all age in the country. According to International Diabetes Federation (IDF), estimation, the 2.5 prevalence of diabetes in 2011 will rise to 3.5% by the year 2030 [2, 11]. To combat the burden of this diabetes and other non-communicable disease (NCD), the country has implemented a national strategy based on the available evidence [12]. Since there is no study conducted on quality of life of patient with diagnosed DM to our knowledge, the current study will fill the existing gap in quality of life the patients.
Indeed, studies have been conducted on DM in Ethiopia. But, to our knowledge, all of them were undertaken to assess prevalence of DM and factors associated with it and there is no any study which conducted on HRQOL, specifically on type 2 diabetes [13,14,15]. Hence this study was conducted by aiming to assess HRQOL and its associated factors among type 2 diabetic patients on follow up in Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital (FHRH), North West Ethiopia.