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Background and objective: Diabetic patients could be at increased risk of functional disability, which needs good control of blood glucose and other risk factors and the quality of life of diabetic patients especially those who had complications is remarkably lower than the quality of life of the general population. This study was conducted to assess the quality of life of diabetic patients in its different domains from the patient's perspective in Erbil city. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 160 diabetic patients were randomly selected from Layla Qassim diabetic health center. The WHO (WHO QOL-BREF) questionnaire was used as the main tool for data collection, which included26 questions on four domains of health-related quality of life (physical, psychological, social and environmental domains). Results: Around 49% of the patients had checked their blood sugar regularly and had better scores in the social domain (P = 0.036). Diabetic patients of all age groups had low scores in all domains of quality of life, with the lowest mean score in the psychological domain. Females reported significantly higher scores in the environmental domain (P = 0.001). Patients with insufficient monthly family income had lower scores in the social (P = 0.001), psychological (P = 0.031) and environmental (P = 0.039) domains. There was no obvious statistical association between clinical characteristics of the patients and the quality of life domains. However, those with complications had lower scores in the psychological domain, with a higher proportion (P = 0.016) of complications in females. Conclusion: All domains of quality of life are affected by diabetes mellitus, with no clear, consistent statistical association between clinical characteristics of the patients and the quality of life of various domains, which emphasize the need for more multidisciplinary team action for more patient`s education and self-care.

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Background and objective: Geographic Information System (GIS) is a system for solving complex planning and management problems. GIS provides an excellent means of visualizing and spatial analyzing health data. The aim of this study was to highlight the valuable uses of GIS in planning of health services in Erbil city. Methods; This is a cross-sectional study, conducted in Erbil city during the period between (1/2/2009-1/5/2009). Data on number of health centers and hospitals, health manpower and health services of 2008 were collected & analyzed spatially and presented in appropriate maps, figures and tables. Health services data was linked to the population data for computing health indicators like doctor- population ratio and nurse -population ratio. Bed occupancy rate (BOR) and average patients stay for all hospitals of year 2008 is calculated and analyzed spatially. Results: Total number of health centers(HCs) which provide all types of health services to the community were (15), (12) of them have one or more of these health services. There are (13) quarters without health centers. Most of physicians (80.6%) & assistant physicians (Medical assistants) (79%) are working in hospitals, while only (19.4%) of physicians & (21%) of medical assistant are working in HC. The highest number of doctor-population ratio was in (Shahid Najdee Haidar) HC (14588) while the lowest was in (Mala Afandi) HC (1635). Maximum bed occupancy rate was in (Hawler teaching) hospital (66.7%), while the minimum was in (Amal) Hospital (11%). Conclusion: GIS is a promising tool for evaluating health facility distribution and planning of equitable distribution health services in Erbil city.