Impact of diabetes on quality of life for persons living in the Bella Coola Valley.

There is evidence that diabetes affects the physical and emotional well-being of people who have the disease. The present study investigates the effect that diabetes has on self-rated health, satisfaction with various specific domains of life, and satisfaction with quality of life operationalized as happiness, satisfaction with life as a whole, and satisfaction with overall quality of life. 968 people living in British Columbia's Bella Coola Valley completed a survey that included one-item measures of these characteristics. It was found that, compared to people without diabetes, people with the disease--regardless of the extent of their associated co-morbidities--were no more likely to be unhappy or dissatisfied with their lives as a whole or with the overall quality of their lives. However, people with diabetes rated their current health significantly worse.