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Abstract
Objective: We aimed to validate the Malay version of Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) questionnaire for Malaysian adult population with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM).
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study to validate Malay version of DQOL among the adult diabetic patients. DQOL questionnaire has 46 items consist of three domains, namely Satisfaction Domain, Impact Domain and Worry Domain. Both forward and backward translations from the English version of DQOL into Malay version were performed. After the face validity of the Malay version was established, it was then pilot-tested. Finally, the validity and reliability of the final Malay version of DQOL questionnaire were evaluated.
Results: There were 290 patients participated in this study with a mean (SD) age of 53.1 (10.0) years. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the overall items and the main domains were between 0.846 and 0.941. The Pearson's correlation coefficients for the three domains were between 0.228 and 0.451. HbAtC was found to be positively correlated with Impact Domain (P = 0.006). The Worry Domain was associated with diabetic retinopathy (P = 0.014) and nephropathy (P = 0.033).
Conclusion: The Malay version of diabetes quality of life (DQOL) questionnaire was found to be a valid and reliable survey instrument to be used for Malaysian adult patients with diabetes mellitus.
Keywords: diabetes, validation, quality of life, questionnaire
Introduction
Diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications pose a significant health threat in Malaysia. Based on the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2011, there are at least 2.6 million adult diabetic patients in Malaysia (1). Without proper medical intervention, diabetic patients could suffer from various diabetic complications in life. These long-term complications of diabetes mellitus can also have negative impact on the health outcomes and quality of life of the diabetic patients (2). The lifelong nature of each patient's diabetic condition can make it more challenging to manage this condition as time passes (3). In addition, the requirement of tedious diabetic self-care can lead to psychological problem like depression and affect their adherence to diabetic treatment. This can complicate further the diabetic control in this group of patients (4).
Clinical parameters (eg. glycemic control) are often used as means to assess the disease control and its clinical outcomes. However, the measure of quality...