Alexithymia, Poor Glycaemic Control and Poor Quality of Life Among Patients Having Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulty in identifying and describing emotions verbally and inability to distinguish between bodily sensations. Patients having chronic illness i.e., diabetes develop alexithymic characteristics overtime. Type 2 diabetes is a stressful, life-long and non- curable condition. Patients having type 2 diabetes and comorbid alexithymia characteristics show poor control on diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship among alexithymia, poor glycemic control and poor quality of life in patients having type 2 diabetes. The cross-sectional research method was used with 300 type 2 diabetes patients having age bracket 35-75 years (M= 50.49 SD= 8.93). Sample was recruited through purposive sampling. The participants were presented with demographic sheet along with Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire and The Revised version of Diabetes Quality of Life Scale. The Haemoglobin A1C test results were obtained from patients’ medical record. Data was analyzed using SPSS 22. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were employed. The significant positive association was found among alexithymia, poor glycemic control and poor quality of life. Regression analysis showed that alexithymia and poor glycemic control predicted poor quality of life among patients. This study highlighted that alexithymia has negative impact on diabetes management. Therefore, there is a dire need to investigate alexithymia among type 2 diabetes patients to increase the efficacy of treatment among patients. This study’s findings will be helpful for clinicians and psychologists to design interventions and management plan for better treatment outcomes in patients.