The Mental Status in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Admitted to a Diabetes Clinic After Presenting in the Emergency Room: The Application of the SCL-90 Scale

Oana Albai; Mirela Frandes; Romulus Timar; Bogdan Timar; Teodora Anghel; Vlad Florian Avram; Alexandra Sima

doi:10.2147/DMSO.S304904

The Mental Status in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Admitted to a Diabetes Clinic After Presenting in the Emergency Room: The Application of the SCL-90 Scale

Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2021 Apr 28:14:1833-1840. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S304904. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Oana Albai¹, Mirela Frandes², Romulus Timar¹, Bogdan Timar¹, Teodora Anghel³, Vlad Florian Avram¹, Alexandra Sima¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania.
² Department of Functional Sciences, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania.
³ Department of Neuroscience, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania.

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most serious public health problems, involving increasing costs worldwide. The mental state of a person with DM is varied and ever-changing, such as stress, the pressure to always do everything by the book, sadness, anger, and even denial of the disease, all these are feelings patients with DM will experience throughout their life.

Aim: The aim of our study was to assess the presence of mental and psychiatric disorders (anxiety, depressive states, paranoid ideation, phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder) in a group of patients with DM after hospitalization in the Clinic for Diabetes, Nutrition, and Metabolic Diseases, for various exacerbations of the underlying condition, looking for possible correlations with other cardiovascular risk factors.

Patients and methods: Clinical and biological parameters, the presence of acute and chronic complications of the diabetic patients have been evaluated. To assess mental health, the symptom checklist (SCL)-90 questionnaire was conducted for all admitted patients.

Results: We observed that the number of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorders was relatively high (23.3%), while depression was present in 17.1% of the patients. Also, 10.6% of patients had hostility and 15.6% had delusional ideation. The presence of psychiatric disorders was associated with a higher age (62 vs. 46.5 years; p <0.001), a longer diabetes duration (11 vs. 9 years; p <0.001), higher fasting glycemia (188 vs. 132 mg/dL; p <0.001) and postprandial glycemia (212 vs. 152 mg/dL; p <0.001), and triglycerides (125 vs. 110 mg/dL; p <0.001). Patients with altered mental status have shown statistically significantly more altered clinical and biological parameters compared to those without these mental disorders.

Conclusion: Patients with DM represent a psychologically vulnerable population, which is why they should undergo early and regular screening for both psychological and psychiatric conditions, especially at admission.

Keywords: adherence to treatment; cardiovascular risk; cardiovascular risk factors; compliance; insulin-resistance; mental disorders.