Authors (including presenting author) :
Wong MH (1), Kwan SM (1), Dao MC (1), Fu SN (1), Luk W (1)
Affiliation :
(1)Family Medicine and Primary Health Care Department, Kowloon West Cluster
Introduction :
Diabetes-related distress (DRD) refers to psychological distress specific to living with diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) may have fears of existing or future diabetes complications, concerns about hypoglycaemia and frustration with care providers. DRD can lead to negative clinical consequences including poor self-management and suboptimal glycaemic control.
The American Diabetes Association recommended that DRD should be routinely monitored. However, DRD is not assessed in most of the primary care practices in Hong Kong. Since the local prevalence and severity of DRD remains unknown, it is difficult to decide if DRD evaluation should be routinely included in local DM care.
Objectives :
(1) To study the proportion of clinically significant DRD among patients with T2DM in General Out-patient Clinics (GOPCs)
(2) To identify the associated factors of DRD.
Methodology :
This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 3 GOPCs from 1 December 2021 to 31 May 2022. A random sample of adult Chinese patients, who had known diagnosis of T2DM and had at least two regular follow-ups for T2DM in the selected clinic in the past 12 months, were invited to participate in the study. DRD was measured by the validated 15-item Chinese version of the Diabetes Distress Scale (CDDS-15). An overall mean score ≥2.0 was considered clinically significant.
Result & Outcome :
The study recruited 362 subjects in 3 GOPCs. The response rate was 90.6%. The mean age of participants was 64.2 years old (SD 9.5) and male to female ratio was approximately 1:1. The median HbA1c was 6.9 % (IQR 0.9). The median duration of living with T2DM since diagnosis was 7.0 years (IQR 10.0). The proportion of clinically significant DRD in our study was 59.4%. Age was negatively associated with the occurrence of DRD among patients with T2DM in an odds ratio of 0.967 (95% CI 0.939-0.995, p=0.021).
Conclusion: A high proportion of patients with T2DM in GOPCs experience clinically significant DRD. Younger age was identified as an associated factor. Evaluation of DRD is suggested to integrate as a part of comprehensive diabetes care in the primary care setting.
