An Expert Opinion on “Glycemic Happiness”: Delineating the Concept and Determinant Factors for Persons with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

The importance of the psychological impact of diabetes is globally well-documented. Evidence suggests that there is a high level of psychosocial burden of diabetes in India. Moreover, there is a lack of relevant knowledge among the patients and caregivers regarding the psychological impact of diabetes and how to cope with it, as compared to the majority of other countries. “Happiness of the patient” is an essential component of diabetes management, which potentially affects the treatment outcome, treatment adherence, self-care, and lifelong management of diabetes. Although several validated tools and scales exist for measuring psychological outcomes both in patients and physicians, tools to assess “happiness in diabetes care” are still lacking. With this background, an expert group meeting was held in India in September 2019, involving nine expert diabetologists and endocrinologists across the country to discuss the concept of “glycemic happiness”. This article summarizes the expert opinion on the factors affecting psychological outcomes in diabetes, introduces the concept of glycemic happiness, describes available scales and tools to measure general happiness, and delineates the five sets of questionnaires developed with questions that may help correlate with “glycemic happiness”. The questionnaires are based on a five-point Likert method. The experts also discussed and decided upon the study design for a proposed observational survey to assess glycemic happiness of persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) based on the developed five sets of questionnaires. Given the huge burden of diabetes in India, the introduction of the concept of glycemic happiness will help in the optimization of diabetes care in the country.

Qualitative and Quantitative Study on Components of Future Time Perspective and Their Association with Persistent Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes

“…Second, FTP may also be related to ‘glycemic happiness,’ which is defined as “a state of emotional and biomedical wellbeing in persons with diabetes mellitus” [ 30 ]. A scale of glycemic happiness has been developed to understand the current state of happiness in T2DM patients and their surroundings [ 30 ].…”

“…Second, FTP may also be related to ‘glycemic happiness,’ which is defined as “a state of emotional and biomedical wellbeing in persons with diabetes mellitus” [ 30 ]. A scale of glycemic happiness has been developed to understand the current state of happiness in T2DM patients and their surroundings [ 30 ]. Of the items in this scale, the questions that measure mental aspects related to scheduling and planning taking T2DM into account, such as “Do you feel your private and social leisure activities are impaired due to diabetes?” and “Do you get angry, scared, and/or depressed when you think about living with diabetes?,” are likely to be closely related to FTP.…”

Assessment of Patient, Physician, Caregiver, and Healthcare Provider-Related Factors Influencing “Glycemic Happiness” of Persons with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: An Observational Survey

“…The development of the questionnaires used in this survey has been described in detail in our previous report [ 14 ]. After a comprehensive review of several validated scales available for assessing the happiness and wellbeing of persons with T2DM and based on clinical experience, a group of expert diabetologists and endocrinologists from the country developed five sets of questionnaires to assess the parameters affecting the glycemic happiness of persons with T2DM, either directly or indirectly.…”

“…After a comprehensive review of several validated scales available for assessing the happiness and wellbeing of persons with T2DM and based on clinical experience, a group of expert diabetologists and endocrinologists from the country developed five sets of questionnaires to assess the parameters affecting the glycemic happiness of persons with T2DM, either directly or indirectly. Subsequently, the questionnaires were translated into multiple regional languages to facilitate easy data collection [ 14 ].…”

“…Various factors associated with each of these stakeholders may influence (positively or negatively) and contribute to the “glycemic happiness” of people with diabetes. Glycemic happiness is defined as “a state of emotional and biomedical wellbeing in persons with diabetes mellitus” [ 14 ].…”