Role of emotional factors in diabetes

As an approach to the emotional attitude of diabetic patients, the attitude examination devised by Dunn et al. in 1986 (ATT39 test) was applied. Thirty-nine points were analyzed on the basis of 6 factors in order to assess the stress relating to the diabetes, the adaptation, the guilt feelings, the alienation, the awareness of the disease and the tolerance on the Likert scale. Analysis of the results of 128 diabetic patients demonstrated that, besides the appearance of stress, the emotional attitude of the subject to diabetes is characterized by good ability to cooperate, appropriate awareness of the disease, adaptive tolerance and slight guilt feelings. The data were also evaluated with respect to the quality of metabolic control, age, sex, duration of disease, educational level and type of diabetes. Contrary to expectations, quality of control and duration of disease did not influence the emotional attitude towards diabetes, but this attitude was correlated to type of diabetes, complications and sex of the patients. The results of the attitude examination of 34 type I diabetic patients were compared with the data from other pyschological surveys (personality and performance tests), and a good correlation was found between emotional characteristics and results of the personality tests. It was concluded that the attitude examination can readily be carried out, and provides a basis that can be appropriately utilized in the care of diabetic patient.