Assessment of attitudes, self-management, and quality of life of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the malay population

Attitudes, self-management, and quality of life (QoL) in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have become important issues in Malaysia. The main objective of this study was to examine the level of attitudes, selfmanagement and QoL among people with T2DM in the Malay population. This was a cross-sectional study and 200 participants with T2DM completed the questionnaires. The original English language versions of the Diabetes Integration-19 (ATT19), Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA), and Diabetes Quality of Life (DQoL) scale, which measure participants’ attitudes, self-management, and QoL respectively, were translated into Malay language. Internal consistency, Cronbach’ alpha illustrated good reliability of the Malay version questionnaires. Among the participants, mean score for attitudes was 60. The mean scores for the four aspects of self-management ranged from lowest, 1.4 to highest, 5.2. The mean scores for satisfaction and impact of QoL were 69.9 and 21.8 respectively. This study indicates that there were differences between gender, and between insulin users and nonusers in terms of their levels of diabetes self-management and QoL. Greater understanding of diabetes attitudes, selfmanagement, and QoL is important for developing appropriate health programs and consultation strategies for people with T2DM.