Title : Impact of physical and mental fatigue on health-related quality of life and medication adherence in patients with diabetes mellitus
Abstract:
Introduction: An interesting issue that needs to be investigated is the effect of physical and mental fatigue on quality of life and medication adherence in patients with diabetes mellitus. Kuo et al. recently published a relevant secondary study in which it emerged that fatigue is associated with many factors among adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus, including quality of life, or at least its physical health dimension, as well as diabetes complications, which are related to the self-management of the latter. However, in the recent international bibliography, no primary study was found that examined the relationship between physical and mental fatigue, quality of life and medication adherence. Main purpose: To study physical and mental fatigue in patients with diabetes mellitus and its effect on health-related quality of life and medication intake. Methodology: Participants were approached in person. The distribution of questionnaires began in early December 2024 and was completed in late January 2025. The data collection tool used in the study was the questionnaire, which included questions regarding the general characteristics of the participants, the fatigue assessment questionnaire (“Fatigue Assessment Scale”, FAS), the self-efficacy assessment questionnaire for medication compliance (“Self-efficacy for Appropriate Medication Use Scale”, SEAMS), and the quality-of-life assessment questionnaire QOL10. The data collected using a questionnaire were processed and statistically analyzed with the statistical package IBM SPSS Statistics, version 21. Results-Conclusions: In the sample of patients with diabetes mellitus in this study, physical fatigue levels were moderate, mental fatigue levels were low (below average), and overall fatigue levels were moderate, while the prevalence of fatigue was very high (75.5%). Higher levels of physical fatigue, mental fatigue, and overall fatigue were significantly associated with higher levels of social and general quality of life in patients with diabetes mellitus, and vice versa. Furthermore, higher levels of physical fatigue were also associated with significantly lower levels of self-efficacy for taking medication correctly in patients with diabetes, and vice versa, and patients without fatigue were associated with the highest mean levels of self-efficacy for taking medication correctly.
