OBJECTIVES The aim of this study is to describe the top concerns contributing to emotional distress in patients with type 2 diabetes in a diverse population. My hypothesis is higher distress levels will be expressed about feeling tired and burnt out from diabetes.

METHODS A cross-sectional study of 200 participants was conducted at Solano County Family Health Clinics. Potential participants were identified through NextGen Electronic Health Record. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data collected relating to emotional distress levels in patients with Type 2 diabetes. The PAID questionnaire has 20 Likert-scale questions that evaluates emotional distress in patients with Type 2 diabetes. Qualitative data was also collected to supplement the quantitative data.In addition, the Occupational Index Scale was utilized as a proxy to measure participants’ socioeconomic status.

RESULTS Data from 200 patients with Type 2 diabetes were analysed. Questions were analyzed based on the highest response rate of “somewhat serious” or “serious” problem on the PAID questionnaire to identify the top three concerns. The top three concerns for the study population was feeling scared when thinking about living with diabetes, constantly worrying about food and eating, and worrying about the future and risk of complications. Patients were evaluated as being in denial and emotionally burnt out, and the results portrayed that 19 (9.5%) of participants were “in denial” and 29 (14.5%) fell into the category of “emotionally burnt out”.

CONCLUSIONS The top concern for patients was the future and the possibility of serious complications. Education to help address diabetes-related distress would be most useful pertaining to diabetes-related complications.