Quality of life in women with Gestational Diabetes

Introduction. The necessity of the appropriate glucose control among pregnant women carries a lot of self-sacrifice and obligations, which can be significant, taking into consideration the assessment of individual quality of life (QOL).

Aim. The aim of the thesis was an attempt to assess the QOL of women with GDM.

Material and methods. Within the thesis there were applied: the method of diagnostic survey using the questionnaire, which was prepared by me, and WHOQOL-Bref — standardised researching tool . The researching group was 101 women with GDM.

Results. The majority of women was satisfied with their quality of life. General sense of the QOL was at the average level. The women estimated that the QOL within the social area was at the highest level and the environmental area was at the lowest level. The majority of women obeyed the medical instructions during GDM. The women who educated themselves within this problem and those who assessed their knowledge as good or very good better obeyed the recommendations. This women had also better sense of the QOL. The factors which had the greatest influence on the decline of the QOL was turned out to be complications of diabetes, the change of eating habits and sticking oneself the make blood test few times a day.

Conclusions. The quality of life of surveyed women was significantly affected by clinical and sociodemographic factors that decreased the quality of life of women with GDM, as well as education about GDM, which greatly increased the quality of life of surveyed women.

Nursing Topics 2014; 22 (4): 459–463