PREVALENCE OF DIABETES DISTRESS AMONG PATIENTS IN AN OUTPATIENT ENDOCRINE CLINIC IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL

A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

INTRODUCTION
Diabetes distress (DD) among diabetes mellitus patients is becoming a major challenge for healthcare providers. Studies have shown that patients with diabetes distress tend to have poorer glycaemic control. The Diabetes Distress Scale is a validated tool featuring 3 major domains: emotional burden (EB), physician distress (PD) and therapeutic support distress (TSD). Our study aimed to investigate the prevalence of diabetes distress among our patients and to identify risk factors associated with this condition.

METHODOLOGY
This is a cross-sectional study involving type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients seen in the HRPB Endocrine Clinic from February-March 2024. Patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria (n=91) answered the validated Malay version diabetes distress scale questionnaire (MDDS-17). The Total mean score (TS) and the mean score of the 3 domains were analysed using univariate analyses via SPSS. A mean item score >3.0 denotes significant diabetes distress.

RESULT
Median TS is 1.94 (1.59-2.47). 16.5% of the patients had a TS score ≥3. Significant scores in the other domains were: 27.5% for EB, 12.1% for PD and 17.6% for TSD. Those with HbA1c >8.5% had higher median TS scores versus those with HbA1c <6.5% and 6.6-8.4% (2.24 vs 1.71, p = 0.028; 2.24 vs 1.82, p = 0.023) respectively. Patients with HbA1c >8.5% also had higher median TSD scores versus those with HbA1c <6.5% and HbA1c 6.6-8.4% (2.5 vs 1.9, p = 0.03, 2.5 vs 2.06, p = 0.041), respectively. Patients aged between 12-29 had lower median PD scores versus those aged 30-49 and 50-69 (1 vs 1.5, p = <0.001, 1 vs 1.5, p = 0.009), respectively. Patients with retinopathy had higher median PD scores versus those without (1.63 vs 1.0, p = 0.015). There were no significant differences in scores for gender, ethnicity, type of DM, duration of disease, socioeconomic status and other DM complications.

CONCLUSION
The prevalence of diabetes distress is 16.5%. Patients with poor glycaemic control, the middle-aged group and those with retinopathy had significantly higher diabetes distress scores. Efforts should be made to identify these groups of patients for timely intervention.