Quality of Life, Diabetes-Related Distress and Depression Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study

Diabetes patients are prone to various psychiatric disorders, including diabetes-related distress (DRD) and depression. The present study intended to assess the prevalence of DRD and depression and their associated factors in Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) patients.

Methods:

This was a hospital-based cross-sectional observational study done on 200 patients with T2D attending the tertiary care hospital. Demographics and clinical variables were recorded. All T2D patients were evaluated for glycemic status, renal function, lipid profile, and chronic diabetic complications. DRD was measured by using the 17-item Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS). Depression was measured by the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). Quality of life was assessed using the Short Form-36 (SF-36). Associations between DRD and depression with clinical variables were analyzed.

Results:

The mean age of the patients was 52.7±10.8 years, with the mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of the subjects was 9.1±2.4%. Prevalence of DRD and depression were 49.0% and 41.5%, respectively. Regarding the DRD components, emotional distress was the most prevalent, followed by physician-related distress. DRD was significantly associated with younger age, longer duration of diabetes, use of insulin injection, HbA1c level and microvascular complications. Depression correlated with female gender, smoking, longer duration of diabetes, use of insulin injection, HbA1c level and chronic kidney disease and higher DDS score. These patients showed a reduced quality of life in all dimensions (p < 0.001); the most affected dimensions were physical role and general health, showing lower scores than patients with low emotional distress.

Discussion/Conclusion:

Diabetes-related distress and depression are significant concerns for Indians with T2D. Indian T2D patients show high emotional distress and decreased quality of life.