Description

The Quality of Life Instrument for Indian Diabetes Patients (QOLID-89) is a comprehensive multidimensional questionnaire designed to assess quality of life among individuals with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The instrument consists of 89 items organized into 20 distinct factors, each of which can be scored separately. These factors cover a broad range of health-related, functional, psychological, cognitive, and social aspects of everyday life.

The domains addressed include health status, overall quality of life, physical functioning, physical role limitations, work, driving, social functioning, anxiety, fatigue, emotional well-being, concentration, use of computational means, memory, language, medication effects, social support, social isolation, changes in health, intimate relationships, and general health.

This multidimensional structure enables the QOLID-89 to provide a broad assessment of how diabetes affects patients’ everyday functioning and overall well-being.

Objective

The primary objective of the QOLID-89 is to assess quality of life in individuals with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Through its multiple thematic domains, the questionnaire examines how diabetes affects different aspects of daily life and overall well-being. The information obtained can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of patients’ experiences and may support improvements in care and therapeutic interventions.

The instrument therefore extends quality-of-life assessment beyond clinical indicators alone by incorporating functional, psychological, cognitive, and social dimensions of living with diabetes.

Scoring

The 89 items are structured into 20 factors, with each factor receiving a separate score. These domain-specific scores contribute to the calculation of an overall quality-of-life index.

According to the available source, the total score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better quality of life. A maximum score of 100 represents optimal quality of life.

The use of both overall and factor-specific scores allows researchers and healthcare professionals to assess general quality of life while also identifying particular domains in which patients may experience greater difficulties.

Validity

According to the source document, the QOLID-89 has been applied in a Greek population with diabetes while retaining its main psychometric characteristics.

Its coverage of multiple important dimensions of quality of life is presented as supporting its content validity and its suitability for research and clinical applications.

When the instrument is used in different populations or cultural and linguistic settings, further evaluation of its psychometric properties may be appropriate.

Reliability

The source reports Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.78 to 0.90 across the 20 factors of the questionnaire.

These values indicate satisfactory to high internal consistency across the different dimensions assessed by the instrument.

Data Analysis and Use

QOLID-89 data can be analyzed at both the overall quality-of-life level and the individual factor level.

Results can be used to compare different groups of patients and to examine the influence of demographic and clinical characteristics on quality of life. Associations between individual domains and other relevant variables can also be investigated according to the objectives of the study.

Domain-specific analysis may be particularly useful for identifying areas in which patients experience greater impairment and for informing targeted healthcare interventions.

The information obtained from the QOLID-89 may be useful to physicians, psychologists, and other healthcare professionals involved in diabetes management.

Applications

The QOLID-89 can be applied in clinical and research settings to provide a multidimensional assessment of quality of life among individuals living with diabetes mellitus.

Its broad structure allows researchers and healthcare professionals to examine the impact of diabetes across physical, emotional, cognitive, functional, and social aspects of life.

The results can support comparisons between patient groups, investigation of factors associated with quality of life, and the development of interventions designed to address specific areas of difficulty and improve overall patient well-being.

References

Pita R, Grigoriadou E, Eleftheriou M, Kouvatsou S, Diaggelos T, Karamitsos D. Quality of life and type 1 diabetes mellitus. Hellenic Diabetological Chronicles. 2006;19(4):282-294.

Pita RK. Type 1 diabetes: Quality of life, demographic characteristics and management of type 1 diabetes. Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference of the Diabetes Association of Northern Greece; 2004.

Pita R, Fotakopoulou O, Kiosseoglou G, Zafiri M, Roikou K, Simos G, Diaggelos T, Karamitsos D. Depression and quality of life in patients with diabetes mellitus. Hippokratia. 2004;6(1):44-48.