EXPLORING QUALITY OF LIFE OF TYPE-II DIABETICS; QUALITATIVE APPROACH

Abstract

The present research focused on exploring the quality of life in Type-II Diabetics in Lahore, Pakistan using qualitative approach. In present study, a sample of 10 diabetics (5 males, 5 females) within the age range of 40-60 years and having diagnosis of diabetes since more than 1 year, were taken through purposive sampling from the diabetic centers of both government and private hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. In-depth interviews of selected participants were conducted to get information about their quality of life. Questionnaire for in-depth interview were developed through detailed review of literature. Later on, content analysis was used to analyze the data collected. Themes that emerged from in-depth interviews were related to problems in carrying daily functioning, problems in physical functioning, psychological problems and problems in social and occupational functioning due to diabetes. It was also found that certain individuals also have psychological effect like depression due to diabetes. However, there is still need to investigate whether quality of life of depressed diabetics is poor than that of non-depressed diabetics or not.