Modest contribution of psychosocial variables to hypoglycaemic awareness in Type 1 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
To assess relationships between hypoglycaemic awareness and diabetes-related, psychosocial and demographic characteristics.


METHODS
Ninety-eight type 1 diabetic patients completed questionnaires on somatic awareness (Somatic Awareness Questionnaire, SAQ), negative affectivity (Positive And Negative Affectivity Schedule, PANAS), symptom beliefs, bustle and variety of daily life. They then performed up to 70 measurements on a hand-held computer, during 4 to 6 weeks, at home. During every measurement, they rated the presence of 20 symptoms on a 0-6 scale, and estimated and measured their blood glucose level. The percentage of recognised hypoglycaemic episodes was calculated from these data, and used as a measure of hypoglycaemic awareness.


RESULTS
Hypoglycaemic awareness was negatively associated with disease duration and antecedent hypoglycaemia, and positively associated with the use of an insulin pump instead of injections, variety in the daily life, somatic awareness, sensitivity of the symptom beliefs and female gender. However, only 17% of the variance in hypoglycaemic awareness was explained.


CONCLUSIONS
Psychosocial variables contribute to hypoglycaemic awareness, to a moderate but statistically significant extent.
Broers
Sandra
S
Section Medical Psychology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands. s.broers@amc.uva.nl
Van Vliet
Katja P
KP
Everaerd
Walter
W
Le Cessie
Saskia
S
Radder
Jasper K
JK
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003625:Data Collection; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000523:psychology*; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007332:Insulin Infusion Systems; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011594:Psychometrics; D012919:Social Behavior
D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin