The GlucoCoper – An Exploratory Study to Assess Coping Mechanisms of Women Diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes distress can be managed effectively by coping-skill training. To improve coping skills, one must begin by analysing current coping styles of an individual. The GlucoCoper has been developed as a brief, simple, easy-to-administer tool for assessing the coping mechanism of people with diabetes mellitus. The GlucoCoper includes six items rated on a graphic visual analogue scale. These include four items to assess positive coping skills (acceptance, optimism, planning and action) and two items to assess negative coping mechanisms (negativity and blame). The current single centre prospective study analysed the six-item GlucoCoper as a tool to identify coping skills in antenatal women with diabetes, and correlated them with level of diabetes distress. Greater duration of diabetes was related with lower optimism; while poor glycaemic control (high glycated haemoglobin [HbA1c]) was related with high negativity and low scores for planning. Highly educated subjects revealed greater negativity, while those from a rural background exhibited higher blame scores of =7.00 for negativity, =4.00 for planning, and =5.00 for action. These factors should prompt detailed evaluation and intervention. The findings of the current study suggest that GlucoCoper can be used as a screening tool for dysfunctional coping skills in pregnancy complicated by diabetes. Negativity, planning and action, the three domains which correlate strongly with the GlucoCoper score, can be used to create a three-item GlucoCoper, to be used as a brief and effective screening tool for dysfunctional coping skills in pregnancy complicated by diabetes.