Perceptions of adults with type 1 diabetes toward diabetes-specific quality of life measures: a survey-based qualitative exploration

Background Diabetes-specific quality of life (QoL) questionnaires are commonly used to assess the impact of diabetes and its management on an individual’s quality of life. While several valid and reliable measures of diabetes-specific QoL exist, there is no consensus on which to use and in what setting. Furthermore, there is limited evidence of their acceptability to people with diabetes. Our aim was to explore perceptions of adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) toward five diabetes-specific QoL measures.

Methods Adults (aged 18 + years) with T1D living in Australia or the United Kingdom (UK) were eligible to take part in ‘YourSAY: QoL’, an online cross-sectional survey. Recruitment involved study promotion on diabetes-related websites and social media, as well as direct invitation of people with T1D via a hospital client list (UK only). In random order, participants completed five diabetes-specific QoL measures: Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life (ADDQoL-19); Diabetes Care Profile: Social and Personal Factors subscale (DCP); DAWN Impact of Diabetes Profile (DIDP); Diabetes-Specific Quality of Life Scale: Burden Subscale (DSQoLS); Diabetes Quality of Life Questionnaire (Diabetes QOL-Q). They were invited to provide feedback on each questionnaire in the form of a brief free-text response. Responses were analysed using inductive, thematic template analysis.

Results Of the N = 1,946 adults with T1D who completed the survey, 20% (UK: n = 216, Australia: n = 168) provided qualitative responses about ≥ 1 measure. All measures received both positive and negative feedback, across four themes: (1) clarity and ease of completion, e.g., difficulty isolating impact of diabetes, dislike of hypothetical questions, and preference for ‘not applicable’ response options; (2) relevance and comprehensiveness, e.g., inclusion of a wide range of aspects of life to improve personal relevance; (3) length and repetition, e.g., length to be balanced against respondent burden; (4) framing and tone, e.g., preference for respectful language and avoidance of extremes.

Conclusions These findings suggest opportunities to improve the relevance and acceptability of existing diabetes-specific QoL measures, and offer considerations for developing new measures, which need to be better informed by the preferences of people living with diabetes.