Diabetes Care, Vol 17, Issue 4 318-321, Copyright © 1994 by American Diabetes Association

ARTICLES

The health and functional status of veterans with diabetes

JH Ahroni, EJ Boyko, DR Davignon and RE Pecoraro
General Internal Medicine Clinic, Seattle Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington 98108.

OBJECTIVE--To determine the extent of functional impairment among veterans with diabetes and investigate whether such functional impairment is associated with measures of glycemic control, sensory neuropathy, lower extremity macrovascular disease, or other comorbid conditions. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--A 20-item general health survey (SF-20) developed by the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Group, was administered to 577 subjects participating in a prospective study of risk factors for diabetic foot ulceration. Measures of glycemic control and neurovascular disease included GHb, sensory lower extremity neuropathy assessed by aesthesiometry, and segmental lower extremity doppler blood pressures. RESULTS--Veterans with diabetes have major decreases in all domains of functional status; 87% were in poor health in terms of physical functioning and 86% in terms of health perceptions. Those with advancing age, symptoms of neuropathy and claudication, and a medical history of complications associated with diabetes had significantly more impairment of health status than those without. GHb values did not correlate with functional status measures. Subjects with neuropathy had statistically significant functional impairment. Subjects with vasculopathy had only two significantly low health status measures. CONCLUSIONS--In summary, the findings from this survey reveal that veterans with diabetes have low functional status scores. The presence of symptoms and complications accounts for only part of the impairments experienced by this group.
CiteULike    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Von Korff, W. Katon, E. H.B. Lin, G. Simon, P. Ciechanowski, E. Ludman, M. Oliver, C. Rutter, and B. Young Work Disability Among Individuals With Diabetes Diabetes Care, June 1, 2005; 28(6): 1326 - 1332. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Von Korff, W. Katon, E. H. B. Lin, G. Simon, E. Ludman, M. Oliver, P. Ciechanowski, C. Rutter, and T. Bush Potentially Modifiable Factors Associated With Disability Among People With Diabetes Psychosom Med, March 1, 2005; 67(2): 233 - 240. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. L. Maddigan, D. H. Feeny, and J. A. Johnson A Comparison of the Health Utilities Indices Mark 2 and Mark 3 in Type 2 Diabetes Med Decis Making, November 1, 2003; 23(6): 489 - 501. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. H. Wu, M. N. Haan, J. Liang, D. Ghosh, H. M. Gonzalez, and W. H. Herman Diabetes as a Predictor of Change in Functional Status Among Older Mexican Americans: A population-based cohort study Diabetes Care, February 1, 2003; 26(2): 314 - 319. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Volpato, L. Ferrucci, C. Blaum, G. Ostir, A. Cappola, L. P. Fried, R. Fellin, and J. M. Guralnik Progression of Lower-Extremity Disability in Older Women With Diabetes: The Women's Health and Aging Study Diabetes Care, January 1, 2003; 26(1): 70 - 75. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Rose, H. Fliege, M. Hildebrandt, T. Schirop, and B. F. Klapp The Network of Psychological Variables in Patients With Diabetes and Their Importance for Quality of Life and Metabolic Control Diabetes Care, January 1, 2002; 25(1): 35 - 42. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. I Wallhagen and M. Lacson Perceived Control and Psychosocial/Physiological Functioning in African American Elders With Type 2 Diabetes The Diabetes Educator, July 1, 1999; 25(4): 568 - 575. [Abstract] [PDF]

				W. J. de Grauw, E. H van de Lisdonk, R. R. Behr, W. H. van Gerwen, H. J. van den Hoogen, and C. van Weel The impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus on daily functioning Fam. Pract., April 1, 1999; 16(2): 133 - 139. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]