The relationship between perceived stress and blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes

Diabetes is a chronic disease that in addition to physical
complications, some psychological problems, especially stress is prevalent among people with
diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceived stress and
blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes in the city of Urmia.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study (descriptive - analytical) conducted with
330 patients with type 2 diabetes from in rural health centers of city urmia by random cluster
sampling in 2016 year. Using Cohen perceived Stress questionnaire was used to collect
information. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting blood sugar (FBS) were used to
measure blood sugar levels in diabetic patients. Data using descriptive statistics and
independent t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient were analyzed in SPSS v.21
software.
Results: The results of this study showed that the majority of the patients’ perceived stress
(70.9%) were in low level and the perceived stress mean of them were in the low level
(24.22±7.6).There was statistically significant relationship between perceived stress and blood
sugar based on Pearson correlation test (p = 0.001, r =0.28).
Conclusion: According to the results of this present study, it is suggested to develop programs
and approaches to reduce the perceived stress of patients with diabetes in order to decrease
their blood sugar