Abstract

MACHADO ROMERO, Alberto; ANARTE ORTIZ, María Teresa  and  RUIZ DE ADANA NAVAS, María Soledad. Predictors of Quality of Life in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus. Clínica y Salud [online]. 2010, vol.21, n.1, pp.35-47. ISSN 2174-0550.

The aim of this article is to study whether psychological (depression, state-anxiety, trait-anxiety and locus of control) and metabolic variables (glucemic control and serious hypoglycemic events) can predict the quality of life in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1). Thirty-three patients with DM1 completed a battery of psychological tests (DQOL, BDI, STAI and MHLC). The results show that depression and trait-anxiety are good predictors of quality of life in DM1 patients. The rest of the variables (locus of control, glycosylated hemoglobin and serious hypoglycemic events) are not related to the quality of life. These results demonstrate that psychological variables (depression and trait-anxiety) can be good predictors of quality of life in DM1 patients. Therefore, according to our results, to improve the quality of life of people with this disease it would be necessary to promote the application of psychological treatments directed at reducing their depressive and anxious symptomatology.

Keywords : Quality of life; depression; anxiety; locus of control; glucemic control; type 1 diabetes mellitus.

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