Iranian Journal of

Diabetes accounts as one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide that affects roughly 2 million people with a prevalence of 4.67% in Iran. Despite clinical knowledge of the benefits of optimal glycemic control and preventive care, current studies show that many people with diabetes don't receive such care. Changing physician behavior is a crucial step in implant of scientific evidence into improved patient outcomes. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have emerged as a means for this and for reducing variation in care.
"Iranian guidelines for diabetes mellitus care" is intended for use by health care practitioners involved in the care of people with diabetes in the community, such as general physicians endocrinoligists, podiatrists, nutritionists and optometrists.
Iranian Diabetes Guidelines (IDGs) was designed for the Iranian physicians who manage diabetic patients. IDGs consist management of types of diabetes and their acute and chronic complications in primary, secondary and tertiary care levels, also screening and life style modifications.
IDGs are the first practical guideline for management of diabetic patients in Iran.

Background: The prevalence of depression in diabetic patients is 2-3 times more than general population. The quality of life (QOL) and glycemic control are two important outcome measures of diabetes management. The aim of this research is to study the relationship between depression, glycemic control and QOL in a sample of Iranian diabetic patients.

Methods: One hundred diabetic patients who were referred to diabetes clinic of Dr. Shariati Hospital were included in the study consecutively. The depression subscale of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D) were used to determine depression. The World Health Organization Quality of life brief version questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) was used to measure QOL. The status of glycemic control was evaluated through measuring HbA1c. Other measured variables included:  demographic variables, smoking, diabetes type, body mass index, duration and complications of diabetes and previous history of depression. The linear regression method was implemented to analyze the data.

Results: Depression was observed in 28% of the patients. Glycemic control had a reverse significant correlation with diabetes complications. No significant relationship was found between HbA1c and scores of HADS-D. WHOQOL-BREF subscales scores had no significant relationship with glycemic control. There was a significant relation between scores of HADS-D and WHOQOL-BREF subscales.

Conclusion: Improving quality of life (QOL) is one of the main outcomes in the management of diabetes. According to the result of this study, depression had a prominent relationship with QOL. Thus, careful management of depression may be necessary to improve QOL of diabetic patients.