Are people with diabetes getting the support they need? Deficits between support desired and received from family and friends relates to poorer health.
Rebecca K Delaney, Lingzi Zhong, Xuechen Wang and 4 others
PMID 36807127WHAT IT FOUND
About half of adults with diabetes had a support mismatch, and 23% to 34% wanted more help than they received.
Deficits were associated with higher triglycerides, more diabetes distress, and lower confidence in diabetes management.
Key findings
01Roughly half of participants experienced at least one support mismatch, and 23% to 34% reported support deficits.
02After accounting for demographic and clinical characteristics, greater support deficits were associated with higher triglycerides, greater diabetes distress, and lower diabetes self-efficacy.
03Support surpluses were not significantly associated with any key study outcomes, and support deficits were not significantly associated with A1c, BMI, or LDL after controls.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether support deficits cause poorer health or poorer health leads to perceived support deficits. The sample came from people attending a one-day diabetes care and education program, so it may not represent all adults with diabetes. The paper does not report the total number of analysed participants, only that 162 participants had Type 2 diabetes and made up 81%. There is no standard measure of support mismatch, and the study did not identify the type of support or the specific person providing it. The number of participants with Type 1 diabetes who reported support deficits was too small to draw conclusions. One self-care item was missing due to an error, so the self-care measure had 14 items.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that more family support lowers triglycerides or distress. The study is cross-sectional and cannot show that support deficits caused poorer outcomes.