Wissam Mustapha and Syeda Zakia Hossain
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Diabetes Metab
Background: Diabetes can affect one?s life in many ways. It can affect an individual?s emotional, physical, financial, social and overall quality of life. This paper is based on self-perceived quality of life among Lebanese adults living in Sydney. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of diabetes, on the quality of life on this community. Methods: A quantitative method was used. A total 200 Lebanese migrants living in Sydney metropolitan area (SMA) who had been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus at least six months prior to the study, recruited purposively from SMA surgeries serving primary the Lebanese residential communities. The survey asked questions on background information, health, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, lifestyle, quality of life, and management and emotion well being of participant. QOL was measured using participants? subjective assessment of their mobility, personal care, usual activities, pain and anxiety/depression. Results: Results shows that the majority of the participants were male (68%), married (64%), employed (52%) at the time of interview. Male participants reported significantly more pain/discomfort compared to females (P=<.001), On the contrary females experienced more anxiety/depression than their male counterparts (P=<.001). There is also a significant difference in QOL of life between English and Arabic language speaking participants with regard to personal care (P<0.0001) and work (P=0.01). Also participants with or without diabetic education shown significant differences in QOL in particular with regard to Mobility (P=0.04) family (P=0.05) and Leisure activity (P=0.01). Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that the average diabetic knowledge is higher among males compared to female participants of the study. Language is an important factor for QOL measures. An effective and focused diabetic education tailored to women, young and older cohorts seems necessary to improve their understanding of treatment regimes, to improve QOL. As individuals with diabetes may experience considerable anxiety and stress, additional qualitative studies may be necessary to understand the complex mechanism of the relationship between diabetes, anxiety and stress and to determine an effective approach towards reducing the emotional effects on individuals with diabetes as the perceived causes may not relate entirely to this populations? disease status but rather incorporate their lifestyle and social-economic situation.
Wissam Mustapha is currently a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia. He completed his MBBS in Moscow Russia in 1998 and is currently working as Lecturer and Tutorial Administrator at various universities including University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney and Notre Dame Medical University.
