Concerns about hypoglycaemia and late complications in patients with insulin-treated diabetes

Abstract

AbstractBackground: Diabetes-related anxiety influences the quality-of-life of people with diabetes.Aim: To compare diabetes-related concerns in insulin-treated patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.Method: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out in two cohorts of adult outpatients with type 1 diabetes (n=223) and insulin-treated type 2 diabetes (n=104). Assessment of concerns about mild and severe hypoglycaemia, blindness and kidney failure was carried out using the seven-point Likert scale.Results: Insulin-treated patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes worry mostly about late diabetic complications, less about severe hypoglycaemia and little about mild hypoglycaemia. Patients with type 1 diabetes worry more about severe hypoglycaemia than those with type 2 diabetes; no differences in levels of anxiety about mild hypoglycaemia, blindness and kidney failure exist. Severe hypoglycaemia in the preceding year is associated with more worry about severe hypoglycaemia in patients with type 1 or 2 ...