Structured Patient Education and Quality of Life of Elderly Patients With Diabetes Mellitus- a Prospective Study

• The primary outcome measure regarding patients metabolic control was the improvement of quality of life six months after DTTP.
  

• A secondary objective of the study was the comparison of QoL- subscale in patients already on insulin therapy with those newly on insulin therapy.
  

All patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, who were older than 54 years and admitted by general practitioner to the inpatient unit of the university hospital of Jena, Germany, for participation in a structured DTTP for insulin therapy because of hyperglycemia, were candidates for successive inclusion in the study. All patients participated in a five day inpatient structured DTTP for single or split dose administration of intermediate-acting insulin which included instruction in insulin injection, self- monitoring, hypoglycemia, acute/late complications, nutrition and foot care. Quality of life was assessed by using a validated instrument, the standardised QoL- questionnaire of Lohr et al. (21) both before and six months after participation in the DTTP. This questionnaire consists of 58 Likert- scaled items comprising the subscales: social relations, physical complaints, worries about the future, diet restrictions, fear of hypoglycemia, and daily struggles. Higher scores reflect higher quality of life with 100% as an optimum quality of life. The primary outcome measure regarding patients metabolic control was the improvement of quality of life six months after DTTP.