Faculty of Public Health, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
Center of Excellence in Community Health Informatics, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 17;19(16):10216. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191610216.
The quality of life (QoL) of elderly diabetic patients may be affected by caregiver factors, but this has received little empirical support. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to determine the influence of family caregivers’ diabetes knowledge and behavior on the QoL among elderly patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). The participants included 354 elderly patients with Type 2 DM and their family caregivers, who were recruited through multistage sampling from five districts in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Face-to-face interviews with DM patients were conducted using the Thai Simplified Diabetes Knowledge Scale (T-SDKS), the Thai version of the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) for self-care behaviors, and the Thai version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life for Older People (WHOQOL-OLD) scale. For caregivers, their diabetes knowledge was measured by T-SDKS and patient-care or supportive behaviors were developed based on DSMQ. The results showed a moderate level of QoL among elderly diabetic patients. According to simple linear regression analysis, the QoL score among elderly DM patients was positively associated with their diabetes knowledge (B = 1.25), self-care behaviors (B = 3.00), caregivers’ knowledge (B = 0.97), and supportive behavior from caregivers (B = 2.92) at a significance level of p < 0.01. In the multivariable model, patients’ self-care behaviors (B = 1.58, p = 0.001), caregivers’ knowledge (B = 0.58, p = 0.001), and patient-care behaviors (B = 1.38, p = 0.004) were significantly associated with QoL among DM patients when controlling for patient factors, including age, body mass index (BMI), education, and living arrangements, which accounted for 27.0% of the variance. This indicates that caregivers’ adequate diabetes knowledge and appropriate supportive behaviors may impact the QoL of elderly diabetic patients. Health care providers should prioritize motivating and empowering family caregivers to pay more attention to the patient for the success goal.
老年糖尿病患者的生活质量（QoL）可能会受到照顾者因素的影响，但这一点几乎没有得到实证支持。本横断面研究的目的是确定家庭照顾者的糖尿病知识和行为对老年 2 型糖尿病患者 QoL 的影响。参与者包括 354 名来自泰国清迈五个区的老年 2 型糖尿病患者及其家庭照顾者，他们通过多阶段抽样方法招募。使用泰国简化糖尿病知识量表（T-SDKS）、糖尿病自我管理问卷（DSMQ）的泰国版进行糖尿病患者的面对面访谈，用于自我护理行为，以及世界卫生组织老年人生活质量量表（WHOQOL-OLD）的泰国版。对于照顾者，他们的糖尿病知识通过 T-SDKS 进行测量，患者护理或支持行为则基于 DSMQ 制定。结果显示，老年糖尿病患者的生活质量处于中等水平。根据简单线性回归分析，老年 DM 患者的生活质量评分与他们的糖尿病知识（B = 1.25）、自我护理行为（B = 3.00）、照顾者的知识（B = 0.97）和照顾者的支持行为（B = 2.92）呈正相关，具有统计学意义（p < 0.01）。在多变量模型中，当控制患者因素（包括年龄、体重指数（BMI）、教育程度和生活安排）时，患者的自我护理行为（B = 1.58，p = 0.001）、照顾者的知识（B = 0.58，p = 0.001）和照顾者的患者护理行为（B = 1.38，p = 0.004）与 DM 患者的生活质量显著相关，占方差的 27.0%。这表明照顾者充足的糖尿病知识和适当的支持行为可能会影响老年糖尿病患者的生活质量。医疗保健提供者应优先激励和授权家庭照顾者，以更加关注患者，实现成功目标。
