Factors associated with diabetes-related distress over time among patients with T2DM in a tertiary hospital in Singapore

BACKGROUND: Persistent diabetes-related distress (DRD) is experienced by patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Knowing factors associated with persistent DRD will aid clinicians in prioritising interventions efforts. METHODS: A total of 216 patients were recruited from a tertiary hospital in Singapore, an Asian city state, and followed for 1.5 years (2011–2014). Data was collected by self-completed questionnaires assessing DRD (measured by the Problem Areas in Diabetes score) and other psychosocial aspects such as social support, presenteeism, depression, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) at three time points. Clinical data (body-mass-index and glycated haemoglobin) was obtained from medical records. Change score was calculated for each clinical and psychosocial variable to capture changes in these variables from baseline. Generalized Linear Model with Generalized Estimating Equation method was used to assess whether baseline and change scores in clinical and psychosocial are associated with DRD over time. RESULTS: Complete data was available for 73 patients, with mean age 44 (SD 12.5) years and 67% males. Persistent DRD was experienced by 21% of the patients. In the final model, baseline HRQoL (OR = 0.56, p < 0.05) and change score of EDS (OR = 1.22, p < 0.05) was significantly associated with DRD over time. CONCLUSIONS: EDS might be a surrogate marker for persistent DRD and should be explored in larger samples of population to confirm the findings from this study.