Do people with diabetes who need to talk want to talk?
OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to determine whether people with diabetes who ask for psychological support are those who are experiencing clinically significant levels of psychological distress.


METHODS
Three hundred people with diabetes were asked to complete psychometrically validated questionnaires that assessed subjective need and objective psychological distress.


RESULTS
High levels of psychological distress were reported: 25% reported depressive symptomatology, 41% reported clinically significant levels of anxiety and 51% reported some binge eating behaviour. Participants also indicated a desire to talk to diabetes professionals about various problem areas in diabetes. Those reporting psychological distress, especially depression, were most likely to indicate a desire to talk to someone about living with diabetes.


CONCLUSIONS
Those who want to talk are those who need to talk. Future service development issues should acknowledge the needs and expressed wishes of service users.
Davies
M
M
Clinical Psychology Department, Belfast City Hospital and School of Psychology, Queens University, Belfast, UK. mark.davies@bch.n-i.nhs.uk
Dempster
M
M
Malone
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*