Abstract
In recent years, the global burden of diabetes distress has increased significantly worldwide, imposing mental health issues on patients and the healthcare system. Hence, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of diabetes distress and determine its psychosocial predictors among Saudi adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at Diabetes Clinics, Tertiary Care Academic Medical Center, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The survey questionnaire was distributed to 423 participants. The sample size was 384, where the prevalence of diabetes distress was 48.5%. Based on 5% precision and a confidence interval of 95%, the response rate was 78.25% (334 respondents), among which 61.4% of respondents were females, the remaining 38.6% were males, and the mean age was 56.39 years. The mean scores for the Saudi Arabian Diabetes Distress Scale-17 (SADDS-17) subdomains including emotional burden, physician-related distress, regimen-related distress, and interpersonal distress were 2.63 ± 1.29, 2.31 ± 1.44, 2.48 ± 1.16, and 2.23 ± 1.24, respectively. Based on the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument, Short Version (WHOQOL-BREF) transformed scores, the quality of life was recorded as 62.7%. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score (r = 0.287, p < 0.01) and the total SADDS-17 scores. The Patient Health Questionaire (PHQ) 15 scores showed significant positive correlations with the total SADDS-17 scores (r = 0.288, p < 0.01) and each of the four subdomains. Our present study revealed that diabetes distress prevalence is alarmingly high among patients in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. Our findings provide evidence that physical symptoms, quality of life, depression, and anxiety are the notable predictors of diabetes distress.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a severe threat and a most critical public health challenge; based on the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) statistics, it is affecting 463 million people in 2019 worldwide, and this number will be increased astoundingly to 700 million (10.9%) by 2045 (IDF Diabetes Atlas, 2019)
A counseling intervention that was successful in achieving a long-term shift in physical activity and sedentary behavior increased psychological well-being and quality of life considerably (Balducci et al, 2019); even though patients with diabetes who had symptoms of depression, but which was not clinical depression, experienced an emotional burden related to diabetes distress (Fisher et al, 2007)
This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at Diabetes Clinics, Tertiary Care Academic Medical Center, Saudi Arabia
Summary
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a severe threat and a most critical public health challenge; based on the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) statistics, it is affecting 463 million people in 2019 worldwide, and this number will be increased astoundingly to 700 million (10.9%) by 2045 (IDF Diabetes Atlas, 2019). Anxiety and depression are more prevalent among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) than in the general population (Tran et al, 2021). It is estimated that one in every four T2DM patients has faced depression (Khaledi et al, 2019) Regardless of their depression symptoms, persons with type 2 diabetes benefit from self-management support intervention. The links between defense mechanisms, depression, and health-related quality of life point to the possibility of personification and protagonization, which may arise over time as diabetes symptoms become more intrusive. A counseling intervention that was successful in achieving a long-term shift in physical activity and sedentary behavior increased psychological well-being and quality of life considerably (Balducci et al, 2019); even though patients with diabetes who had symptoms of depression, but which was not clinical depression, experienced an emotional burden related to diabetes distress (Fisher et al, 2007). Compared with major depressive disorder (MDD) and depressive symptoms in diabetics, the estimated prevalence of diabetes distress was a higher percentage in the US (18%) (Fisher et al, 2008, 2010), China (42.15%) (Zhou et al, 2017), and Malaysia (49.2%) (Chew et al, 2016)
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