P167 Perceived problems in diabetes do not correlate with levels of anxiety and depression in a validated structured diabetes education programme

Published Date: 14th April 2021

Publication Authors: Westall S, Narayanan RP, Langan E, Gallagher CG, Bujawansa S, McNulty SJ, Furlong NJ, Sullivan H, Hardy KJ

Aims
Diabetes-related distress, anxiety and depression are all highly prevalent in people with diabetes. The Problem Areas In Diabetes (PAID) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score (HADS) questionnaires can be used to measure these domains. We evaluated the impact of structured education on each of these.

Method
People with diabetes attending structured education completed PAID and HADS questionnaires before starting and after completing structured education. Data from the questionnaires were analysed in Excel with the ‘Analysis ToolPak’.

Results
People with type 1 diabetes (51 at baseline, 39 at endpoint) and type 2 diabetes (404 at baseline, 401 at endpoint) completed the PAID questionnaire. Mean scores improved from 30.3 to 20.0 (p < 0.004) and 22.0 to 17.9 (p < 0.01), respectively. The same people with type 1 diabetes (51 at baseline and endpoint) and type 2 diabetes (374 at baseline, 370 at endpoint) completed HADS. By contrast, no statistically significant change was seen in the anxiety (HADS-A) or depression (HADS-D) mean scores.

Discussion
Clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements were seen in diabetes-related distress for both patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes attending structured education. The same change is not seen for the same group of patients in anxiety or depression sub-domains of the HADS score. This could indicate that anxiety and depression in diabetes are not directly related to perceived problem areas in diabetes as per the PAID score. Further work is needed to evaluate the psychological effect of structured education on people with diabetes.

Westall, SJ; Narayanan, RP; Langan, E; Gallagher, C; Bujawansa, S; McNulty, S; Furlong, N; Sullivan, H; Hardy, J. (2021). Perceived problems in diabetes do not correlate with levels of anxiety and depression in a validated structured diabetes education programme. Diabetic Medicine. 38 (S1), 61

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