Risk factors for impaired quality of life in diabetic patients in Tunisia.

INTRODUCTION: Quality of life preservation is crucial in the management of chronic diseases, in particular diabetes. AIM: To identify risk factors for the impaired quality of life of Tunisian diabetic patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study that collected type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients, selected by convenience sampling was conducted. Diabetic patients received a self-administered questionnaire in Arabic containing general and clinical data and a validated Arabic version of the "Diabetes Health Profile -18". RESULTS: Three hundred and thirty-three type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients, whose age was ≥ 40 years in 78.1% of cases with a sex ratio of 0.94, were collected. The answers to the questionnaire highlighted a globally impaired quality of life for the diabetic patients with an average of 30.21 (7.06). Binary regression analysis presented globally significant models reflecting impairment risk factors for diabetic patients' quality of life. Female gender (AOR= 1.7; p= 0.036), comorbidities associated with diabetes (AOR = 1.23; p<10-3), diabetes complications (AOR= 1.45; p=0.041) and irregular medical follow-up (AOR=4.19; p<10-3) were risk factors for impaired diabetic patients' quality of life. CONCLUSION: This study underlines the major role of a holistic diabetic patient care for better identification and management of risk factors of impaired quality of life.

Arabic version of the simplified diabetes knowledge scale: psychometric and linguistic validation.

Introduction: the simplified diabetes knowledge scale is used to obtain a general assessment of diabetic´s knowledge about diabetes and its care. For clinical and methodological purposes, it was relevant and necessary to develop an Arabic version of this instrument. Thus, the aim of this study was to translate and validate the simplified diabetes knowledge scale (SDKS) into Arabic to measure the knowledge of Arabic-speaking diabetics. Methods: a methodological validation study of the simplified diabetes knowledge scale, following the guidelines of Vallerand was carried out. A convenience sample of diabetics followed in eight basic health centers in Sousse region and in Farhat Hached and Sahloul University Hospitals was recruited. An Arabic questionnaire including the demographic and clinical data of the diabetic and the final experimental version of the simplified diabetes knowledge scale was used. Results: a sample of 333 diabetics was recruited. Content validity of the final experimental version was 0.94. Reliability assessed by Cronbach´s alpha coefficient (0.812), by test-retest correlation coefficient (> 0.60) and by internal consistency after deletion of each item (from 0.788 to 0.816) were acceptable except items 19 and 20 which had to be reformulated. Construct validity analysis identified that three items among the 20 ones (12, 17 and 20) required reformulation. Inter-item correlation matrix showed that the majority of items were not correlated with each other. Validation process was ended by establishing standards table. Conclusion: this study showed the Arabic version of the simplified diabetes knowledge scale had good validity and reliability.

Translation, psychometric evaluation and validation of the "diabetes health profile-18" questionnaire in Arabic.

INTRODUCTION: measuring quality of life requires an instrument validated in the population language. The purpose of our study was to translate and analyze the psychometric properties of the literary Arabic version of the "diabetes health profile (DHP)-18". METHODS: we conducted a methodological study for psychometric evaluation and validation of the DHP-18, following the steps of the cross-cultural validation described by Vallerand. A convenience sample of people with diabetes was collected for this purpose. The developed questionnaire included participants' demographic characteristics, diabetes data and the experimental version of the DHP-18 questionnaire. Validity, reliability and questionnaire standards establishment were carried out. RESULTS: a sample of 333 diabetics was recruited. Test-retest correlation coefficient (r = 0.985; p<0.01) and Cronbach's alpha coefficient (alpha = 0.840) showed that the experimental version was accurate in terms of temporal stability and internal consistency. The content validity index was 0.84 and showed that the questionnaire statements accurately measured the concepts under study. The exploratory principal axis factoring, using the orthogonal varimax rotation, allowed the extraction of a factorial solution with four independent factors, grouping the 18 items of the questionnaire. Correlation coefficients between the three corresponding dimensions of the theoretical model of the questionnaire were low and positive, between 0.431 and 0.535, confirming that each dimension measured a unique content. CONCLUSION: the literary Arabic version of the DHP-18 has proven to be valid, reliable and ready for use in clinical practice in Tunisian people with diabetes.