Experiences of Type II Diabetes Patients: A Systematic Review of the Qualitative Studies

Diabetes is the ultimate cause of blindness, renal failure, and lower limb amputation and is almost the cause of more than half of non-traumatic amputations. As a chronic progressive disease, the patient faces physical, social, and psychological challenges that increase the risk of mental health problems and reduce the quality of life. Therefore, we sought to qualitatively synthesize the experiences of type II diabetic patients in Iran.

This is a systematic review and a synthesis of qualitative evidence based on Joanna Briggs methodology. The primary key words were investigated in the relevant national and international databases including google Scholar, PubMed, Wiley, Elsevier, SID, and Magiran to obtain the articles published up to 2017. Two authors separately investigated the articles for inclusion criteria, data extraction, and quality assessment. The meta-aggregative method was used for the synthesis of the findings.

Overall, 15 articles were eligible to be included in the study. Finally, three themes were synthesized, including “individual limitations regarding diabetes”, “positive viewpoints toward disease”, and “future concerns”.

The experiences of Iranian diabetic patients showed that they need special considerations to overcome their limitations and concerns.