Aims: To assess how well community-dwelling older adults in Singapore were coping with their diabetes, and the sociodemographic characteristics that were associated with their level of coping.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 257 older adults. Multiple regression was used to assess the associations between various sociodemographic characteristics and coping measures of present quality of life and level of self-care.
Results: Older adults mainly sought care in the primary care setting. They were not coping well given their mean scores for diabetes-dependent quality of life and the self-care index were -3.57 and 3.55 respectively. Compared to those with post-secondary education, individuals who had no formal (adjusted B -0.92, p 0.003), primary level (adjusted B -0.76, p < 0.001) and secondary level (adjusted B -0.50, p < 0.02) education reported lower present quality of life. Those with prior lowest skill level occupations were less likely to consume a healthy diet per week than those with prior highest skill level occupations (adjusted B -1.48, p 0.004).
Conclusions: There should be provision of diabetes self-care interventions targeting older adults in Singapore especially for those with lower education and work skill levels. As the first line of contacts, primary care providers should advocate for diabetes self-care and develop community-based interventions for these priority groups.
Keywords: Community-dwelling; Diabetes; Older adults; Primary care providers; Quality of life; Self-care.
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