OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between the side effects of oral anti-diabetic drugs (OAD) and self-reported mental health and quality of life among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional multicenter study with a retrospective medical chart review was conducted at 16 medical centers from around China. The T2DM patients were followed-up and treated with OAD alone prior to the index visit from January to September 2007. All subjects were ≥30 years old at the time of T2DM diagnosis and had received monotherapy or combination therapy of OAD for at least 6 months. Health-related quality of life was measured by the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) and Hypoglycemia Fear Survey (HFS)-II. RESULTS: The symptoms of hypoglycemia were reported by 41.8% (n=203) of participants, and 19.2% (n=93) experienced weight gain. For those reporting hypoglycemia, the scores were higher for HFS-II [7.00 (2.00-19.00) vs 0.00 (0.00-7.00), P<0.01] and lower for EQ-5D (0.90±0.12 vs 0.93±0.13, P=0.003) than those without hypoglycemic symptoms. According to the multivariate linear regression analysis, the symptoms of hypoglycemia were positively correlated with HFS-II (β=5.78, P<0.01) and negatively with EQ-5D (β=-0.04, P<0.05) after adjusting for patient and disease characteristics. CONCLUSION: There is a high possibility of hypoglycemic risks among T2DM patients on OAD therapy. The self-reported hypoglycemia is associated with health-related quality of life and hypoglycemic fear. They may have an impact on the long-term prognosis.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between the side effects of oral anti-diabetic drugs (OAD) and self-reported mental health and quality of life among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional multicenter study with a retrospective medical chart review was conducted at 16 medical centers from around China. The T2DM patients were followed-up and treated with OAD alone prior to the index visit from January to September 2007. All subjects were ≥30 years old at the time of T2DM diagnosis and had received monotherapy or combination therapy of OAD for at least 6 months. Health-related quality of life was measured by the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) and Hypoglycemia Fear Survey (HFS)-II. RESULTS: The symptoms of hypoglycemia were reported by 41.8% (n=203) of participants, and 19.2% (n=93) experienced weight gain. For those reporting hypoglycemia, the scores were higher for HFS-II [7.00 (2.00-19.00) vs 0.00 (0.00-7.00), P<0.01] and lower for EQ-5D (0.90±0.12 vs 0.93±0.13, P=0.003) than those without hypoglycemic symptoms. According to the multivariate linear regression analysis, the symptoms of hypoglycemia were positively correlated with HFS-II (β=5.78, P<0.01) and negatively with EQ-5D (β=-0.04, P<0.05) after adjusting for patient and disease characteristics. CONCLUSION: There is a high possibility of hypoglycemic risks among T2DM patients on OAD therapy. The self-reported hypoglycemia is associated with health-related quality of life and hypoglycemic fear. They may have an impact on the long-term prognosis.