Factors Influencing Health-related Quality Of Life For Older People With Type 2 Diabetes In Vietnam Mountain Areas

Health-related quality of life(HRQoL)has been increasingly used as an important outcome measure to assess the efficacy of diabetes interventions.Assessing health-related quality of life of older people with diabetes type 2 is an important issue as it is much worse than that of a healthy person.Like many other countries in the world,the percentage of people with diabetes in Vietnam is increasing rapidly.If developed countries take decades,even centuries to transition from the population aging period to the aged population period,Vietnam will take less than two decades.It can be said that a strong demographic transition creates a great challenge for Vietnamese society.Lacking family members' care for elderly people in rural and mountainous areas has also increased.Therefore,the management and care for people with diabetes at home play a very important role in the treatment and increase patients' life quality.In Vietnam,although there are many community interventions programs to improve the quality of management and treatment of diabetes mellitus,the research on the health-related quality of life is still limited,especially in rural and mountainous areas.Despite the increasing amount of research devoted to health-related quality of life,but it was still not popular in Vietnam and was evaluated in the English language.Therefore,the effectiveness of this research for improving health-related quality of life outcomes.The first study aimed to assess Health-related quality of life(HRQoL)and diabetes knowledge for older people with type 2 diabetes in Vietnam mountain areas.The second purpose of this research is to build a theoretical model by identifying factors effect on health-related life quality for older patients with type 2 diabetes.The research data were obtained from surveys in Tuyen Quang Hospital,Vietnam.A total of 236 patients were treated in the hospital for at least 6 months.Short-form 36 item(SF-36)health survey questionnaire was used in this research to assess the health-related quality of life for older patients with type 2 diabetes in the mountainous area.The first aim attempted to describe Health-Related Quality of Life(HRQOL)for older persons with type 2 diabetes in Vietnam.This second aim to contribute the conceptual framework demonstrating relationships among factors as well as to determine factors associated with mental and physical health domains(HRQOL)in Vietnam mountain areas.The study shows that Physical Component Summary(PCS)and Mental Component Summary(MCS)are not so high among older persons with type 2 diabetes.The research has not found any difference between diabetes knowledge scores and health-related quality of life as well as with other factors.The findings of this research refer that diabetes self-efficacy,diabetes self-management,and functional status which were positive influences on health-related quality of life for older persons with type 2 diabetes.Evidence shows that the research model is fit with existing theories which to contribute to the conceptual framework through identifying factors relevant to health-related quality of life for the older person.The findings one more time confirm the role of self-management,self-efficacy as an essential factor for improving and enhancing the health-related quality of life among older persons with type 2 diabetes.This study has only been conducted in a mountainous area;we recommend using the toolkit in assessing the quality of life each year at each hospital.This policy has three benefits: 1)to control new case numbers,2)to develop a suitable diabetes management program for local patients,3)to reduce 'financial burden' in long term health care,4)enhance the doctor-patient relationship.Therefore,the future study also attempted to develop a comprehensive understanding of the quality of life among older people with diabetes type 2 in Vietnam and develop a theory-based model of factors influencing the quality of life among these people.The research's limitation does not refer to social support and family factor.For the next research,we request that qualitative research methods like an in-depth interview,focus groups which can be used and combined with quantitative research.Finally,the research toolkit,except for the SF36 toolkit,is translated into Vietnamese standard,other non-standardized toolkits.Standardization here is not yet published in Vietnamese.Therefore,for future research,we also suggest further applicability of these toolkits in Vietnam.Considering the role of social and family support for improving self-management,self-efficacy,mental health,and general health.The model is useful to control and enhance health-related quality of life for older people in the mountainous area.The improvement in health-related quality of life not only benefits older people but also reduces the social,financial burden related to diabetes.