Hypoglycaemia fear, treatment adherence, and the quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes and its determinants

Aim: This work aims to evaluate the relationship between the fear of hypoglycaemia, treatment adherence, and the quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its determinants. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study sample recruited 1060 T2DM outpatients in a health centre between January and July 2022. The Hypoglycemia Fear Survey (HFS), Type 2 DM Treatment Patient Compliance Scale, and the 5-Level EuroQol 5-Dimension (EQ-5D-5L) were used for data collection. Results: There was a positive correlation between age, duration of T2DM, and the scores obtained from the HFS and its subscales (p < 0.001). There was a positive, moderate correlation between the total HFS score and the TCS (p < 0.001). There was a negative correlation between the scores obtained from the HFS and the EQ-5D-5L (p < 0.001). The multiple regression analysis showed that the quality of life scores of the patients were significantly predicted by hypoglycaemia fear, duration of T2DM diagnosis, and age. (F = 91.691, p < 0.001). Hypoglycaemia fear, duration of T2DM diagnosis, and age explained 38.1% of the quality of life of patients. Conclusion: We determined that the increase in hypoglycaemia fear resulted in a decrease in treatment adherence. Besides, hypoglycaemia fear increased with increasing age and duration of T2DM diagnosis.