Abstract
Objectives: In recent times, there has been an increase in the number of patients with type 2 diabetes, which has become a major social concern. The purpose of this study is to obtain the basic data that can assist us in developing useful psychological support for diabetics. Subjects and Method: Seventy-one patients with type 2 diabetes were administered the Problem Areas In Diabetes (PAID) scale, and forty-nine of them were administered the Profile Of Mood States (POMS) and the Tokyo University Egogram, New Version (TEG). Results: We eliminated 6 of the 20 items in PAID that were likely to cause floor effects. Factor analysis of the remaining items revealed one factor: "the diabetes-related burden." Further, through multiple regression analysis, we investigated the relationships between the PAID scale, which we developed using items that were contributable to this factor, and the subscales of the POMS or the TEG. The results showed that the PAID scale was affected by the "Fatigue" (F) subscale of the POMS. In addition, we classified high and low groups in the total score of the PAID scale and compared the mean of the POMS T-scores of the subscales and the mean of the subscales of the TEG in each of the two groups. We found that the responses of subjects in the high-PAID groups were significantly stronger in the "Tension-Anxiety" (T-A), "Depression-Dejection" (D), and "Confusion" (C) subscales of the POMS. On the other hand, there was no relationship between the PAID scale and the TEG. Conclusion: The result of this study suggests a strong relationship between the PAID scale and the POMS. The diabetics with high scores on the PAID scale tended to have sufficiently high emotional burdens to necessitate psychological support. Therefore, the PAID scale can be used in conjunction with the POMS in order to be able to understand in detail the state of mind associated with diabetes-related burden and provide psychological support for diabetics.
