Association between poor psychosocial conditions and diabetic nephropathy in Japanese type 2 diabetes patients: A cross‐sectional study

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: It is suggested that a positive psychosocial condition has a good effect on health and glycemic control. However, there has been no research to evaluate the association between positive psychosocial factors and diabetic nephropathy (DN). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between psychosocial factors and DN in patients with type 2 diabetes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: To assess psychosocial condition, six indicators (happiness score, Life Orientation Test‐revised score as an indicator of dispositional optimism, laughter frequency, self‐awareness of stress, social network and social support) were assessed by a self‐administered questionnaire, and associations between these psychosocial indicators and the presence of DN were examined. RESULTS: A cross‐sectional analysis of patients with (n = 123) and without DN (n = 220) showed that a high score for happiness (odds ratio [OR] per 1 standard deviation 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57–0.89, P = 0.003), high Life Orientation Test‐revised score (OR per 1 standard deviation 0.77, 95% CI: 0.61–0.98, P = 0.035), less self‐awareness of stress (OR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.34–0.90, P = 0.017), high connection of social network (OR 0.55, 95% CI: 0.35–0.87, P = 0.010) and high social support (OR 0.61, 95% CI: 0.38–0.96, P = 0.035) were associated with a reduced risk of prevalence of DN. Similar results were observed even after adjustment for the following conventional risk factors of DN: age, sex, duration of diabetes, hemoglobin A1c, hypertension, dyslipidemia and current smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that five out of six prespecified indicators of psychosocial condition were significantly associated with the presence of DN in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.