Evaluation of Health-Related Quality of Life according to Carbohydrate Metabolism Status: A Spanish Population-Based Study

10.1155/2012/872305 Objective. To evaluate the association between diabetes mellitus and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) controlled for several sociodemographic and anthropometric variables, in a representative sample of the Spanish population. Methods. A population-based, cross-sectional, and cluster sampling study, with the entire Spanish population as the target population. Five thousand and forty-seven participants (2162/2885 men/women) answered the HRQOL short form 12-questionnaire (SF-12). The physical (PCS-12) and the mental component summary (MCS-12) scores were assessed. Subjects were divided into four groups according to carbohydrate metabolism status: normal, prediabetes, unknown diabetes (UNKDM), and known diabetes (KDM). Logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results. Mean PCS-12/MCS-12 values were /, respectively. Men had higher scores than women in both PCS-12 ( versus ; ) and MCS-12 ( versus ; ). Increasing age and obesity were associated with a poorer PCS-12 score. In women lower PCS-12 and MCS-12 scores were associated with a higher level of glucose metabolism abnormality (prediabetes and diabetes), ( for trend), but only the PCS-12 score was associated with altered glucose levels in men ( for trend). The Odds Ratio adjusted for age, body mass index (BMI) and educational level, for a PCS-12 score below the median was 1.62 (CI 95%: 1.2–2.19; ) for men with KDM and 1.75 for women with KDM (CI 95%: 1.26–2.43; ), respectively. Conclusion. Current study indicates that increasing levels of altered carbohydrate metabolism are accompanied by a trend towards decreasing quality of life, mainly in women, in a representative sample of Spanish population.