Background and Objective: The
elderly population has increased in recent years. With age, the prevalence of chronic diseases such as
diabetes also increases. Physiological, psychological, and social changes in old age, as well as the occurrence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, can affect the
quality of life of the elderly. Therefore, this study was performed to determine the
quality of life in the
elderly with
diabetes and its relationship with some factors. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was performed on 130 elderlies with
diabetes referred to endocrinology clinics affiliated with Zanjan University of Medical Sciences. Sampling was performed in an easy and accessible method. The data collection tool included a 36-item short-form survey (SF36). This questionnaire has two subscales of
physical health and mental health. The lowest score on each subscale is zero and the highest score is 100, and a higher score is a better quality of life. An average of 50 with a standard deviation of 10 (50 ± 10) was considered as a standard and acceptable indicator for the
quality of life of the elderly. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22 software. For descriptive statistics, mean ± standard deviation, and analytical statistics, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used. Findings: The majority of study participants were female (56.2%) and with a history of more than 10 years of diabetes. An average score of
quality of life in the
elderly with
diabetes was on the subscales of
physical health (44.74±19.26) and
mental health (47.92± 15.68). Quality of life in the
physical health subscale had a statistically significant relationship with age (P = 0.0001), gender (P = 0.015) and duration of
diabetes (P = 0.003). Quality of life in the
mental health subscale was statistically significantly related to age (P = 0.002) and duration of
diabetes (P = 0.002) but was not significantly related to gender (P = 0.374); However, the
quality of life score was lower in females. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the
quality of life of the
elderly with
diabetes was lower than the standard level in the
physical health and
mental health subscales.
quality of life in the
elderly with
diabetes was related to increasing age and duration of
diabetes and female gender. The results of this study can help policymakers in this area to make future plans to improve the
quality of life of the
elderly with diabetes.