Original Research Article
Year: 2023 | Month: June | Volume: 13 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 81-89
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20230614
Health-Related Quality of Life Among Adults with Type 2 Diabetes on Herbal Versus Conventional Antidiabetic Medicines in Nairobi City County, Kenya
Monicah Wanjiru Karara1,2, Faith Apolot Okalebo2, Peter Ndirangu Karimi2, Sylvia Adisa Opanga2
1School of Pharmacy, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Juja, Kenya. P.O. Box 62000-00200 Nairobi, Kenya
2Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya. P.O. Box 19676-00202 Nairobi, Kenya
Corresponding Author: Monicah W. Karara
ABSTRACT
Background: Patients with type 2 diabetes often seek care from herbal clinics for glycemic control. Health-related quality of life in patients treated at the herbal clinics has not been established.
Objective: To compare health-related quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes on herbal versus conventional antidiabetic therapies.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 80 patients with type 2 diabetes attending a conventional clinic and 37 patients receiving care in a herbal clinic in Nairobi City County, Kenya. A general questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and clinical information from the study participants. The WHOQOL-BREF was used to assess the health-related quality of life in both group. Descriptive data analysis was performed on all variables. The HRQOL scores were compared by non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analyses were used to identify the sociodemographic and clinical factors affecting the various domains of HRQOL. P-values equal or less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.
Results: The mean overall quality of life scores were 50% and 75% in the herbal and the conventional treatment group respectively (p<0.001). HRQOL scores in all the domains were also higher among the patients treated in the conventional compared to those treated at the herbal clinic. The type of treatment setting was an important determinant of HRQOL across all the domains evaluated in this study.
Domain specific analysis found level of education (P= 0.010) and physical activity (P=0.001) as determinants of the physical domain of HRQOL. Microvascular complications negatively affected the psychological domain of the patient’s life (p=0.010). Gender affected both the social (p=0.037) and the environment (0.033) domains of the patients’ lives. Older age (p= 0.004) and alcohol intake(p=0.048) had significant adverse effects on the patient’s environment while residing in urban areas (p= 0.026) favored this aspect of the patients’ health.
Conclusions: We reported higher HRQOL scores among patients on conventional therapies compared to those on herbal treatments. We identified factors that can be addressed to enhance the well-being of type 2 diabetes patients in both the conventional and herbal care settings.
Key words: HRQOL; Type 2 Diabetes; Herbal; Conventional.