PREVALENCE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DIABETES-RELATED EMOTIONAL DISTRESS (DRED) AMONG FILIPINO ADULT PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS USING A VALIDATED FILIPINO VERSION OF THE DIABETES DISTRESS SCALE (DDS)

Background. Diabetes related emotional distress (DRED) is important in diabetes management. There are limited studies involving diabetes distress and its association with glycemic control and other clinicodemographic factors among Filipinos. Objective. This study aimed to translate the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS) into Filipino and validate this version among Filipino adult patients with type 2 DM and assess the prevalence of DRED and its association with glycemic control and other factors. Methodology. A Filipino DDS was constructed through forward and backward translation of the English version and was validated. A subsequent cross-sectional study was conducted among 186 individuals with type 2 diabetes in a single-center tertiary hospital. The prevalence of DRED and its association with HbA1c level and other related factors were assessed. Results. The overall prevalence of DRED for this study was 34.41% with a mean overall score for the DDS of 2.02. Age (AOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.93–0.98; p = 0.002), higher medication burden, (AOR 1.33, 95% CI 1.01–1.77; p = 0.043) and peripheral artery disease (AOR 6.03, 95% CI 1.79–23.29; p = 0.005) were predictors of DRED. Conclusion. This Filipino version of the DDS showed that it is a valid instrument in the assessment of diabetes related distress among Filipino patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes distress scores were not associated with glycemic control. A younger age of diagnosis of diabetes, a history of PAD, and higher medication burden were found to be associated with development of DRED.