The Relationship Between Discomfort Intolerance And the Fear Of Self-Injection And Testing In Patients With Diabetes Using Insulin: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Nilhan Töyer Şahin, Hülya Ek, Seda Pehlivan
PMID 39370576WHAT IT FOUND
Among adults with diabetes who inject insulin, higher discomfort tolerance was linked to lower fear of self-injection and finger-prick testing.
Nurses can ask about these fears during diabetes education, but this survey did not test whether reducing fear improves control.
Key findings
01Higher total discomfort tolerance was weakly associated with lower total fear of self-injection and self-testing (r = -0.317).
02Mean total discomfort tolerance was 22.7, and mean total fear was 21.1.
03Patients hospitalised for complications had higher total fear than those not hospitalised.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Single-centre convenience sample of adults attending one Turkish hospital, so results may not apply to other populations or to patients who do not attend this service. Cross-sectional design cannot determine whether discomfort tolerance affects fear, fear affects tolerance, or another factor explains both. The Discomfort Intolerance Scale had low internal consistency in the original Turkish version and in this study (overall 0.592 and 0.635), so total DIS scores should be interpreted cautiously. Some result statements conflict with Table 2, especially for comorbidity and discomfort tolerance, and the paper does not resolve the discrepancy. Participants using insulin pumps or with visual or hearing impairment, incomplete forms, or mental or psychological problems were excluded. Data were self-reported during face-to-face interviews with a diabetes education nurse, which may affect responses.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that increasing discomfort tolerance will reduce fear of insulin injection or testing. This was a cross-sectional survey of patients attending one Turkish hospital, and the correlations were weak, so it cannot show cause or effect.