A Study on Diabetes Distress and Its Associated Factors Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Managed at Selected Primary Care Units in Colombo District, Sri Lanka

Introduction: Diabetes Distress (DD) is a non-psychiatric distress component of diabetes mellitus (DM) defined as “patient concerns about disease management, support, emotional burden and access to care in DM”. DD has become a global burden associated with reduced adherence to treatment and poor glycemic control. However, little is known about DD among Sri Lankan diabetes patients.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with DM attending primary care units in Sri Lanka. Patients above 18 years with type 2 DM for more than one year were recruited. Self-administered, and interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. Diabetes Distress Scale 17 (DDS 17) was used to assess DD. Bivariate (chi-square, odds ratio) and multivariate analysis were used to assess associations.
Results: The sample size was 389 (mean age 62.01 +/- 10.1 years) with 69.7% females. 37.5% of the population were suffering from DD. The less number of family members (p = 0.006) and the presence of multiple comorbidities (p = 0.004) were significantly associated with DD. Adequate physical exercise (p = 0.008), a healthy diet (p = 0.006), and adequate sleep (p = 0.025) were found to be protective against DD. Patients with DD had poor glycemic control(p < 0.0001).
Conclusion: This study illustrates, that DD is a major undiagnosed problem in Sri Lankan patients with diabetes. Assessment for DD should be incorporated in routine diabetes management by developing more rapid diagnostic tools.