Abstract
Although psychosocia_1 stressors have long been felt to affect diabetes, prior research in this area had been hampered by methodologic difficulties. This study was designed in order to study the relationship between psychosocial factors and metabolic control of diabetes mellitus. Seventy-four middle or old aged outpatients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) were studied at the Asahi Life Foundation Institute for Diabetes Care and Research. The authors developed a "Diabetic Checklist" self-report questionnaire that measured psychosocial factors and demographic data. Results from this questionnaire and several psychological tests were compared to measurements of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAic). Multivariate statistical analysis, the Quantification Type I method, was done in order to minimize the methodologic problems found in prior studies. This analysis revealed that the combination of six items (egogram, occupation, body weight, therapy method, diabetic education and eating behavior) could most accurately estimate diabetic control (R-squared=0.576). The egogram pattern based on transactional analysis which indicates the pattern of personal relationships, was felt to be the most useful measurement. The authors conclude that useful information to evaluate diabetic control may be observed from the study of certain psychosocial factors and are planning for the prospective study in this area.
