Perceived psychological stress in diabetes mellitus type 2.

We studied the factors associated with perceived psychosocial stress in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 105 patients (27 men and 78 women) with a mean age of 51.6 (50.2-52.5, 95% CI) years and 8.6 (7.3-9.8, 95% CI) years since diagnosis. The patients were overweight with body mass index (BMI) of 27.6, and most of them had deficient metabolic control (mean glucose of 10.6 nmol/L and HbA1c of 9.2%). Glycated hemoglobin was associated with BMI (negatively, p = 0.002), with adherence to diet (negatively, p = 0.027) and with years since diagnosis (p = 0.031). The association with BMI was found only in women. It was explained by the fact that obese women had fewer years since diagnosis, and recently diagnosed patients have a better metabolic control. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed perceived stress associated with percent body fat and blood glucose in the total group, with years since diagnosis in women (p = 0.02), and with BMI in men (p = 0.03). No association was found between perceived stress and adherence to treatment. We concluded that in our group, perceived stress was associated with obesity and metabolic control.