The prevalence and predictors of diabetes distress in elderly with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Aims: Diabetes distress (DD) leads to damaging consequences in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Few studies have been carried out on the DD among elderly in Iran. The aim of the current study was to investigate the prevalence of DD and some of its related factors on the elderly living in Qom, Iran.

Methods: This study was cross-sectional, in design. It lasted for three months (December to February 2018). 519 community dwelling(aged 60 and over) participated in the study. Participants' distress measured by diabetes distress scale (DDS). The cut of 3(≥3) was considered as the presence of distress. In addition, socio-demographic information was assessed. In order to determine predictors factors of DD, the logistic regression analysis was applied.

Results: The mean age (±SD) of the participants was 68.38 (SD:6.78) with the majority being female (53.6%). Among them, 48.6% were identified with DD. A multi-variable logistic regression analysis showed that being female (OR = 1.94, [ 1.30-2.31]), sedentary lifestyle (OR = 3.59, [1.43-9.03]), complications (OR = 3.10, [2.06-4.67]), body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more (OR = 2.46, [1.54-3.94]), duration of disease below 10 years (OR = 2.60, [ 1.56-4.31]), two comorbidity (OR = 2.07, [ 1.19-3.61]) and three or more comorbidity (OR = 3.51, [ 1.20-10.27]) are the predictors of DD.

Conclusions: DD is notably prevalent among the elderly with T2DM. Attention to psychological aspects of diabetes is a health priority, especially among women and other high-risk groups.