Assessment of the decreased productivity of patients with diabetes type 2 in the Clinical Endocrynological Center Sofia, Bulgaria

Abstract

This study aims to assess the influence of type 2 diabetes on the patients’ productivity and quality of life. The WHO’s methodology – HLQ (Health and Labor Questionnaire) is applied. Subjects were 38 patients with type 2 diabetes, diagnosed and treated at the Clinical center on endocrinology at the MU- Specialized hospital center for active treatment- Sofia. Control consisted of 100 patients without diabetes. The results from the study proofs the fact that the patients with type 2 diabetes manage with their day- to-day activities like their colleagues and even better, but they absent from work because of: their illness, experiencing fatigue and insomnia, pain in hands, legs, joints and muscles. They receive hospital treatment because of the insufficient control on their treatment and the advanced diabetes complications. The application of the Osterhaus method establishes that type 2 diabetes is connected with the excess illness-related work loss and with more often “medically related absences”. These do not lead to significant indirect productivity costs because these patients are with lower income. The cumulative costs from the sporadic work loss during their whole life are even greater, because of the increased spread of the disease, suboptimum treatment, and many complications and prolonged life duration thanks to the contemporary medicine.