Assessment of self care practices and role of diabetes distress among adult diabetic patients on follow-up from North West India

Diabetes Mellitus, a chronic illness, has emerged as a major public health problem on a global scale. The present study assessed self-care practices regarding Diabetes and the role of diabetes distress among adult diabetic patients who were on follow-up. This cross- sectional study with 365 participants was conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Jammu, J&K, India. The study tools included: a) questionnaire on socio-demographic and clinical details b) Summary of diabetic self-care activities (SDSCA) measure and c) Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS). Pearson correlation was applied to find the relationship between variables. The tests of significance used were Chi square/ Fisher's exact test. The findings revealed that emotional distress was moderate in 43.9 % of respondents and most of the participants had little/no distress. Diet and blood sugar testing were the domains of SDSCA, which were found to be associated with diabetes distress. Variables significantly associated with adherence to self-care practices were educational status, Monthly family income, presence of comorbidities, treatment modality etc. This study underscores that the majority of the participants were adherent to medications. The role of sustained self-care education in mitigating diabetes distress can't be more emphasized. Policy makers need to devise interventions like psychosocial support to address diabetes distress and promote sustainable self-care behaviour.