Type 2 diabetes and quality of life in relation to perceived psychological stress

Abstract

Aim To investigate quality of life (QoL) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) experiencing low perceived psychological stress level and high perceived psychological stress level. Methods Perceived psychological stress level and QoL were assessed in 146 patients with T2DM (57 men, 89 women, age 56.7G12.6 years, T2DM duration 7.4G6.9 years, body mass index (BMI) 33.6G5.7 kg/m2 , HbA1c level 7.7G1.6%), using Perceived Stress Scale (a higher score denotes a higher level of stress) and WHO Bref Quality of Life questionnaire (a higher score denotes better QoL). Results. Patients with high perceived stress level had lower scores in physical health (10.9G 1.6 vs. 13.9G2.4, P!0.001), psychological health (11.4G2.8 vs. 13.7G2.1, P Z 0.018), and social relations domains (12.3G1.9 vs. 13.6G2.6, P Z 0.038) than those with low perceived stress level. No significant differences were found in QoL environmental domain as well as in age, T2DM duration, BMI, HbA1c level between patients experiencing low and high perceived stress. Perceived stress level in patients with T2DM correlated negatively with QoL physical health score (rZ -0.255, P Z 0.015). In conclusion. Patients with type 2 diabetes experiencing high perceived psychological stress level have worse quality of life in terms of physical health, psychological health and social relations than those with low level of perceived psychological stress.Perceived stress level in patients with type 2 diabetes is related to physical health.