Full Length Research Paper
Abstract
Diabetes is a complex chronic disease that affects not only an individual’s physical health, but can also have a profound impact on mental wellbeing. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of DRD among subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) using Diabetes Distress Scale-17 (DDS-17) and to see its correlation with glycemic control and treatment modalities. A cross-sectional study of 400 T2DM subjects (200 men and 200 women) aged between 25 to 65 years who visited the tertiary care centre for diabetes in South India between April 2017 and May 2018 were included in this study. Subjects with T1DM, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and psychiatric illness were excluded. The total score of DDS-17 was calculated by taking a sum of the 17 items’ results and then dividing the total by 17. Clinical validation of the DDS suggests that the following thresholds of severity should be applied when interpreting the scores: little or no distress < 2.0, moderate distress = 2.0 - 2.9, and high distress ≥ 3.0. The mean age of men and women was 52.0 ± 8.4 and 51.7 ± 8.1 years, respectively. The mean score in women was 2.79 ± 1.52 as compared to men (1.62 ± 0.83) (p<0.001). The study findings highlighted that women had high levels of distress in managing diabetes as compared to men. Diabetes distress should be considered as a significant health problem and steps should be taken for effective management by lifestyle modifications, coping with their stress and diabetes.
Key words: Diabetes distress, HbA1c, emotional burden, type 2 diabetes (T2DM), South India.
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