ABSTRACT
All illnesses pose challenges to the adaptive capacity of individual patients and their families. They involve a common set of constraints, including decreased physical and role functioning, forced separations, and physical pain. However, each illness has its own specific variations or twists on these challenges and demands (Jacobson & Hauser, 1983). As such, any discussion of quality of life research pertaining to a particular illness should include a discussion of the pathophysiology of that illness and the ways that the condition and its treatment invades the real lives of patients and their families. Therefore, this presentation of quality of life research begins with a presentation of the clinical features of diabetes mellitus and its treatment. We then examine findings from studies that address quality of life issues in diabetes mellitus.
