Relationship between Quality of Life and Health Locus of Control in Patients with Diabetes: With an Emphasis on Mediating Role of Medication Adherence

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases, and its management is difficult and requires long-term self-care to improve the perceived quality of life (QoL) of patients.

The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of medication adherence in the relationship between the QoL and health locus of control (HLC) in patients with diabetes.

The research method was descriptive cross-sectional study in which 232 patients with diabetes were selected through convenience sampling method. They were then asked to complete the research questionnaires on Quality of Life, Health Locus of Control, and Medication Adherence. The proposed model was investigated using structural equation modeling (SEM), and indirect relationships were examined using the Bootstrap method. Data were analyzed through SPSS, Amos-25 software.

The results showed a significant relationship between medication adherence and QoL (P< 0.001), but no significant relationship was observed between HLC and QoL. The results also showed that medication adherence significantly mediated the relationship between HLC and QoL in patients with diabetes (P= 0.003).

The study results indicated that the proposed modified model was well-fitted to the data. Therefore, it can be used for identifying the most important factors affecting the QoL of patients with diabetes.