self-care agency and quality of life among iranian adolescents with diabetes mellitus type 1

Background & aim: juvenile or type 1 diabetes mellitus is the most common metabolic and endocrine disorder in childhood and adolescence that affects quality of life. on the other hand, self-care agency could be considered as a significant factor in improving the quality of life. this study aimed to investigate the self-care agency and quality of life among iranian adolescents with diabetes mellitus type 1 referring to the diabetes center at sina hospital in tabriz, iran. materials and methods: in a descriptive correlation study, 120 diabetic adolescents were selected from a pool of referrals to the diabetes center at sina hospital affiliated to the tabriz university of medical sciences, using the convenience sampling process. adolescents completed a demographic and clinical characteristics questionnaire, the diabetes-specific quality of life brief clinical inventory (dqol-bci), as well as the self-care appraisal scale. statistical analysis included pearson correlation coefficient, independent samples t-test, one-way anova and linear regression. data was analyzed by spss ver.16. results: the mean score of quality of life and self-care agency was 32.14 (8.17) and 30.24 (8.64), respectively. there was a significant relationship between the quality of life and self-care agency (p<0.05). furthermore, a significant correlation with some of the demographic and clinical characteristics was revealed (p<0.05). conclusion: based on the association between the quality of life and self-care agency in diabetic adolescents, researchers emphasize the need for planning diabetes education programs based on self-care training to improve the quality of life.