Impaired Emotional Well-being Research Articles

Severely obese people with Type 2 diabetes experience impaired emotional well-being and socioeconomic disadvantage—Results from Diabetes MILES – Australia

Severely obese people with Type 2 diabetes experience impaired emotional well-being and socioeconomic disadvantage—Results from Diabetes MILES – Australia

Impaired psychometric testing in polyglandular autoimmunity

Patients with the autoimmune polyglandular syndrome (APS) could be exposed to many limitations in daily life owing to their illness. To quantify the degree of physical and emotional distress, the psychometric profile of these patients was evaluated prospectively. After a complete endocrine investigation, three international validated self-assessment questionnaires were applied in 75 patients with APS: the health-related quality of life Short-Form 36 (SF-36), the Giessen Complaint List (GBB-24) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Average duration of APS was 7.7 years. The most frequent disease combination was type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroid disease (n=47, 62.6%). Every scale of the SF-36, GBB-24, and the HADS anxiety score demonstrated markedly impaired physical and emotional well-being, foremost in female subjects (P<0.001). Compared to a German reference cohort, all subscales of the SF-36 were decreased (P<0.001). Sex- and age-matched z-scores were significantly lower for physical functioning (-1.1; reference population z=0), physical role limitations (-0.8), bodily pain (-0.7), general health perception (-1.2), vitality (-0.8), social functioning (-0.8), emotional role limitations (-1.1) and mental health (-0.5). Also, the global score of discomfort was increased in comparison with the reference population (27.27 vs 13.93, P<0.001). Generalized anxiety (25%, P<0.001) and depression episode (18.1%, P<0.001) were prevalent in APS. Neither time interval between two endocrine diseases, duration of APS, age, nor autoantibody positivity influenced psychometric testing results. Patients with APS have a severely impaired psychometric profile. Treatment modalities that would improve their well-being are warranted.

Myeloproliferative disorder therapy: assessment and management of adverse events—a psychiatrist's perspective

Chronic diseases such as the myeloproliferative disorders may mask a worsening emotional state in patients, which can be exacerbated by the addition of common treatments such as interferon-alpha. Management of mood disturbances is best considered from the first consultation, as the negative impact of impaired emotional well-being on physiological outcomes is well established in literature. It is therefore important for physicians to be mindful of their patients' emotional well-being from the point of diagnosis and throughout therapy, and aware of the tendency for physicians to focus on the primary illness. The advice of a psychiatrist may prove useful when discussing management strategies for patients with identifiable mood disturbances.