THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-CARE AND EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES REFERRED TO THE YAZD DIABETES RESEARCH CENTER IN 2018

Diabetes is the most common metabolic disease in the world, and self-care is one
of the main strategies for controlling the disease. Several studies point to the lack of optimal self-care
in diabetic patients as psychological barriers, and emotional distress seems to be one of the factors
affecting it. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between self-care and
emotional distress in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Materials & Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 380 patients with type 2 diabetes were
selected from among those referring to Yazd Diabetes Research Center in 2018. A demographic
questionnaire, an emotional distress questionnaire, and a self-care questionnaire for diabetic patients
were utilized for gathering data. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21, and
descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient were utilized.
Results: The results showed that the mean score of self-care patients was 56.65 ± 13.13 and the mean
score of emotional distress was 40.82 ± 15.15. Therefore, self-care and emotional distress were moderate
in most patients. Based on the Pearson correlation coefficient, there was a negative correlation between
self-care score and emotional distress in diabetic patients (r = -0.25, p = 0.01).
Conclusion: Reducing emotional distress is one of the factors affecting the improvement of patients'
self-care behaviors, therefore it is necessary to pay attention to it in educational and counseling programs
to prevent complications of diabetes and to increase the self-care behaviors of patients.