Quality of life in patients with diabetes mellitus before and after their participation in an educational program

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study aimed to evaluate the health-related quality of life in individuals with diabetes mellitus before and after their participation in a five-month educational program in a primary care service in Brazil in 2008. The sample consisted of 51 individuals, 56.9% female and 43.1% male, who had a mean age of 57.65 ± 11.44 years. Data were collected using the Portuguese version of the SF-36 questionnaire. The instrument had adequate reliability estimates for the study sample. Cronbach's alpha for the two components of the instrument, physical and mental, were 0.83 and 0.89, respectively. The findings suggested improvements in all the domain components; however, only the general health domain, before (63.96 ± 19.03) and after (70.59 ± 17.82) the educational program, presented statistically significant mean differences, t(50) = 2.16, p<0.05. Participation in the educational program also contributed to improvements in the perceptions of the individuals regarding their general health status.