Impact of worries associated with COVID-19 on diabetes-related psychological symptoms in older adults with Type 2 diabetes.
Min Jung Kim, Chang Park, Lisa K Sharp and 4 others
PMID 34823078WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults with diabetes who worried more about the coronavirus also reported more diabetes distress and depressive symptoms.
The link held across common demographic and diabetes factors.
Key findings
01After adjustment, greater coronavirus worry was associated with higher total diabetes distress (0.25), emotional burden (0.32), regimen distress (0.45), and depressive symptom t scores (4.21).
02Worry scores showed correlations of 0.29 with total diabetes distress, 0.32 with emotional burden, 0.25 with regimen distress, and 0.46 with depressive symptoms.
03The greatest worries were about the economy entering a recession (2.17), a family member catching COVID-19 (2.00), lifestyle disruptions (1.89), and local hospitals being overwhelmed (1.81).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was mostly White and female, so results may not apply to more diverse populations. Participants had well-controlled diabetes, so findings may not apply to those with poor glucose control. Online recruitment required internet access. Older adults without access or technology skills were probably not represented. The cross-sectional design cannot show that worry caused distress or depression. Potential confounders, such as personal or family illness and local infection rates, were not measured. Some participants had missing glucose or worry data, so adjusted models used fewer participants than the completed sample.
Declared interests
This work was supported by the UIC Midwest Roybal Center for Health Promotion and Translation, the UIC Seth and Denise Rosen Memorial Research Award, and the Sigma Theta Tau International Alpha Lambda Chapter Research Award. The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that reducing coronavirus worry will lower diabetes distress or depression. The study measured associations at a single time and cannot show cause.