title: Surprisingly few psychological problems and diabetes-related distress in patients with poor glycaemic control.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Poor glycaemic control is an undesirable, but frequently encountered problem in diabetes. Reasons for not achieving optimal glycaemic control are not yet clear. A common belief is that psychological factors contribute importantly. This study compared general psychological problems and diabetes-related distress between patients with persistently poor glycaemic control to patients with optimal glycaemic control.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients from an outpatient clinic with type 1 or type 2 diabetes with a mean HbA1c ≥ 86 mmol/mol (≥ 10%) over two consecutive years (poor-control, n = 32) and those with diabetes and a mean HbA1c ≤ 53 mmol/mol (≤ 7%) over two consecutive years (optimal-control, n = 53) were studied. Clinical characteristics were obtained from the medical records. Psychological characteristics were investigated cross-sectionally using questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients in the poor-control group had a higher BMI compared with the optimal-control group. Self- reported previous anxiety was more prevalent in the poor-control group (34 versus 9%). All other mean test scores and proportions of subjects above cut-off levels were similar in the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with diabetes and persistently poor glycaemic control have surprisingly few psychological problems and diabetes-related emotional distress. It seems that people with diabetes do not see persistent poor glycaemic control as a problem.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bazelmans
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Netea-Maier
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Vercoulen
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Tack
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human