Quality of Life in Patients with Diabetic Retinopathy

Introduction: Diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of blindness and a fundamental cause of disability in diabetic patients in the world. Investigation about the quality of life in these patients can help plan for taking nursing measures to prevent or control the disease and improve patients&rsquo; quality of life. Objective: This study aimed to determine the quality of life in patients with diabetic retinopathy. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive analytical study (2014), 316 patients with diabetic retinopathy who attended the laser unit in Amir-al-Momenin Medical Educational Hospital, Rasht, for treatment and had a follow-up record were selected by convenience sampling. The data were obtained by the Retinopathy-Dependent Quality of Life (RetDQoL) questionnaire, a socio demographic questionnaire and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). The final score for quality of life ranges-9 to 3. The closer to -9 is the final score; the better is the quality of life. Independent t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson&rsquo;s correlation were used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that the mean score of quality of life in subjects was -1.73, indication glow quality of life. In addition, statistical tests indicated a significant relationship between quality of life in patients with diabetic retinopathy and income, employment and education (p<0.0001), marital status and smoking (p<0.001), place of residence and being a member of Diabetes Association (p<0.044), duration of diabetes (p<0.015), history of ocular surgery (p<0.011), type of retinopathy (unilateral and bilateral), neuropathy (p<0.0001), diabetic foot ulcers (p<0.002), history of other ocular diseases (p<0.031) and Charlson co-morbidity (p<0.001). Conclusion: According to the findings, based on which patients had low quality of life, it is recommended that authorities adopt consulting, training and financial programs to control the predictors of quality of life and improve patients&rsquo; quality of life