Health-Related Optimism and Quality of Life among Diabetes Patients: the Moderating Role of Clinical Factors in a Nigerian Sample

This study examined severity of comorbidity and adherence to treatment as contextual moderators in the link between health-related optimism and quality of life among diabetic patients. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design in which questionnaires were used for data collection from diabetic patients in two major hospitals within the Ibadan metropolis. A multistage sampling technique was employed in selecting a sample of 385 participants for the study. The sample consisted of 232 males and 153 females with a mean age of 64.69 years, and a standard deviation of 10.56. Results showed that the first model of treatment adherence and health related optimism explained 11.94% of the variance in quality of life among diabetes patients, while the interaction term accounted for a significant change in R2 by 3.45%. The results implied that health related optimism positively predicted quality of life when treatment adherence was optimum (β=2.0295; p<.01); while there was no influence of health related optimism on quality of life when treatment adherence was poor (β=.2126; p>.05). Similarly, the second model of comorbidity severity and health related optimism explained 9.30% of the variance in quality of life among diabetes patients; while the interaction term accounted for a significant change in R2 by 3.45%. The result implied that health related optimism positively predicted quality of life when severity of comorbidity was high (β=.6746; p<.01) or low (β=3.6161; p<.01); however, a higher effect was recorded at the latter than the former. Implications of the results were highlighted and discussed.

Keywords:Diabetes; Severity of comorbidity; Adherence to treatment; Health-related optimism; Quality of life