QUALITY OF LIFE AND TREATMENT SATISFACTION AMONG PATIENTS RECEIVING SIDDHA CARE IN A SPECIAL OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: Non-communicable diseases account for 41 million deaths globally and 5.2 million deaths in India. Siddha interventions for diabetes, asthma, and hypertension have been provided at Government Siddha Medical College and Hospital (GSMCH), Palayamkottai. Evaluation of Quality of Life (QoL) and treatment satisfaction is important to assess patient-centered outcomes of integrative care. Objective: The present study was undertaken to assess the Quality of Life and treatment satisfaction among patients with Diabetes Mellitus (Neerizhivu), Bronchial Asthma (Iraippu Irumal), and Systemic Hypertension (Raththa Pitham) attending Special Siddha OPDs at GSMCH, Palayamkottai. The study also aimed to evaluate domain-wise quality of life scores across selected sociodemographic and clinical characteristics within each disease group and to compare treatment satisfaction domain-wise scores among patients with Diabetes Mellitus, bronchial asthma and Systemic Hypertension. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from August to November 2023 among 90 patients selected by systematic random sampling (30 each with diabetes, asthma, and hypertension) receiving Siddha treatment for at least six months. QoL was assessed using WHOQOL-BREF for diabetes and hypertension patients and Mini-AQLQ for asthma patients. Treatment satisfaction was assessed using TSQM-9. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: Patients with diabetes and hypertension demonstrated Good QoL in physical, psychological, and environmental domains, while social relationship scores were Moderate. Asthma patients showed Good QoL in symptom, activity limitation, and environmental domains, whereas emotional function scores were Moderate. Treatment satisfaction was high across all groups, although comparatively lower satisfaction was observed among patients with uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension. Conclusion: Patients with diabetes, asthma, and hypertension, attending the Special Siddha OPDs generally reported favorable quality of life and treatment satisfaction scores. Improved focus on social and emotional well-being may further improve favorable patient outcomes.