Assessing the Prevalence of Diabetes Distress and Determining Its Psychosocial Predictors Among Saudi Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

In recent years, the global burden of diabetes distress has increased significantly worldwide, imposing mental health issues on patients and the healthcare system. Hence, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of diabetes distress and determine its psychosocial predictors among Saudi adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at Diabetes Clinics, Tertiary Care Academic Medical Center, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The survey questionnaire was distributed to 423 participants. The sample size was 384, where the prevalence of diabetes distress was 48.5%. Based on 5% precision and a confidence interval of 95%, the response rate was 78.25% (334 respondents), among which 61.4% of respondents were females, the remaining 38.6% were males, and the mean age was 56.39 years. The mean scores for the Saudi Arabian Diabetes Distress Scale-17 (SADDS-17) subdomains including emotional burden, physician-related distress, regimen-related distress, and interpersonal distress were 2.63 ± 1.29, 2.31 ± 1.44, 2.48 ± 1.16, and 2.23 ± 1.24, respectively. Based on the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument, Short Version (WHOQOL-BREF) transformed scores, the quality of life was recorded as 62.7%. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score (r = 0.287, p < 0.01) and the total SADDS-17 scores. The Patient Health Questionaire (PHQ) 15 scores showed significant positive correlations with the total SADDS-17 scores (r = 0.288, p < 0.01) and each of the four subdomains. Our present study revealed that diabetes distress prevalence is alarmingly high among patients in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. Our findings provide evidence that physical symptoms, quality of life, depression, and anxiety are the notable predictors of diabetes distress.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Diabetes Distress, Depression and Anxiety Among Primary Care Patients With Type 2 Diabetes During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Egypt: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In the current study, diabetes duration, complications and treatment regimen were all associated with increased risks for comorbid DD, depression, and anxiety symptoms, which is consistent with previous studies (53,55,58). However, it is difficult to interpret potential risk factors for mental health disorders in T2DM as these factors often coexist and interact with each other.…”

“…The current study's bivariant analysis showed that illiteracy, insufficient family income, unemployment, and being divorced or widowed were associated with higher prevalence of DD, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Study findings from other countries also showed similar association although not all associations were statistically significant (53,58). Consequently, optimizing management of patients with DM does not only require a multidisciplinary team of healthcare workers, but it also involves synergistic multi-dimensional care plan of the surrounding environment.…”

Effects of the tailored intervention program in lowering blood glucose levels and diabetes distress among patients with diabetes in Indonesia: a randomized controlled trial

“…The prevalence of distress was high among patients with diabetes (Batais et al, 2021). Simultaneous increases in blood glucose levels due to diabetes distress have also been reported (Dekkers & Hertroijs, 2018;Pranata et al, 2022).…”

Psychometric evaluation of the Arabic version of the 5-item Problem Areas in Diabetes (AR-PAID-5) scale

“…Depression and anxiety among patients with T2DM also are associated with female gender and the existing of these psychological problems also is associated with increased symptoms of diabetes distress [39,48,49]. Increased attention and support for diabetes distress are recommended for females with T2DM [50].…”