EMOTIONAL FUNCTIONING EVALUATION IN NON-CRITICALLY ILL TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS.

Introduction India with a huge burden of type 2diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has got the title of “Diabetes capital”. Recent focus on latest drugs have caught the fancy of many doctors, but what remain under-reported and frequently overlooked is the emotional quotient which could be an important cause for poor quality of life. We investigated emotional functioning in non-critically ill T2DM patients attending general outpatient department. Method In a cross sectional study, 100 consenting T2DM patients were assessed by Problem Areas in Diabetes Scale (PAID) scale which evaluates diabetes-related emotional distress. This scale measures four problem areas in diabetes: negative emotions, concerns regarding treatment, food-related problems, and social support-related problems scored on a 5-point Likert scale (Range 0 – 100). Descriptive Statistics were used to calculate clinical variables. A cut-off score ≥ 33 was taken for detecting clinical and subclinical emotional distress. Results and Conclusion Mean PAID score was 46. Social support related problem was witnessed more among patients >60years of age. Food related problem was the most commonly encountered across all ages and least was concern regarding treatment. Mean HbA1c was 7.2% and it didn’t correlate significantly with duration of diabetes or emotional distress. Emotional distress was observed in majority of T2DM patients and among geriatric age group social support was the main concern. Emotional distress observed was independent of glycaemic control. Further studies are needed to identify risk factors associated with emotional distress.