Influence of Diabetes Knowledge, Self-Stigma, and Self-Care Behavior on Quality of Life in Patients with Diabetes

Abstract

Globally, almost 9.3% of the population aged 20–80 years have been diagnosed with diabetes making diabetes management a global health problem beyond specific regions or races. This study aimed to determine the effect of diabetes knowledge, self-stigma, and self-care behavior on the quality of life of patients with diabetes. This descriptive research study evaluated 180 patients receiving diabetes treatment at the outpatient Department of Endocrinology at C University Hospital. Data were collected between 30 July 2019, and 30 August 2019. The study variables were general patient characteristics, disease-related characteristics, quality of life, diabetes knowledge, self-stigma, and self-care behavior. Factors affecting the quality of life were analyzed by hierarchical regression. Self-stigma (β = −0.298), monthly income (β = 0.270), and self-care behavior (β = 0.140) significantly affected the quality of life, in that order. The higher the self-stigma, the lower the quality of life, and the higher the monthly income and the level of self-care behavior, the higher the quality of life. A psychosocial support program to positively change the attitude toward diabetes is needed to improve the quality of life among patients with diabetes.

The Effect of Self-Stigma on Self-Esteem and Treatment Compliance in Individuals with Type-2 Diabetes: An Example in the Southeast of Türkiye

“…Today, the incidence of diabetes is increasing due to reasons such as a sedentary lifestyle and the rise in the number of obese individuals resulting from poor eating habits (Cho et al, 2022;Kato et al, 2021).…”

“…While the number of individuals with diabetes in Turkey was 9 million in 2021, it is estimated to reach 13.4 million in 2045 (IDF, 2021). Therefore, managing diabetes is a global health concern (Cho et al, 2022).…”

“…Diabetes is a significant chronic disease that has adverse affects on individuals' physical and mental states, family life, work, and social interactions (Cho et al, 2022;Krzemińska et al, 2021). As a result of the negative attitude of society towards diabetes or the complications caused by diabetes, patients have faced stigma (Cho et al, 2022;Kato et al, 2021). Studies have reported that type-2 diabetes patients are stigmatized by society (Himmelstein & Puhl, 2021;Liu et al, 2017).…”

“…Thus, Consequently, individuals with diabetes may be inclined to conceal their condition, fearing societal stigmatization (Kokoszka et al, 2022;Puhl et al, 2020). This situation negatively affects the physical health of the individual as well as the psychological effects (Cho et al, 2022;Harper et al, 2018;. In addition, the fact that individuals use drugs and have to follow up on diabetes by themselves increases selfstigma (Cho et al, 2022;Puhl et al, 2020).…”

The relationship between psychological resilience and quality of life among the Chinese diabetes patients: the mediating role of stigma and the moderating role of empowerment

“…Empowerment boosts confidence, awareness, and decision-making skills for physical and mental health and healthcare [ 29 ]. However, most diabetes patients have a lower level of PR due to a lack of disease knowledge, poor glycemic control, and increased disease burden, which further contributes to higher levels of stigma than the normal population [ 30 ]. Studies had shown that empowerment education interventions could effectively improve glycemic control, blood glucose levels, and QoL in people with diabetes [ 31 ].…”