Depressive Symptoms among Patients with Diabetes in Qatar: Frequency and Potential Determinants

Differences in mental health status between individuals living with diabetes, and pre-diabetes in Qatar: A cross-sectional study

Aims

The aims of this study was to determine the prevalence and to compare depression and anxiety screening scores by type of diabetes: type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), and pre-diabetes. The secondary aim was to examine sex differences in screening scores by type of diabetes.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Doha, Qatar using primary data collection (N = 150), and stratified random sampling at a diabetes primary healthcare center. The study tool collected demographic information and used validated mental health screening tools for depressive symptoms "Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)", and for anxiety symptoms "Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7)".

Results

The prevalence of moderate to severe depressive and anxiety scores was highest in the prediabetes group (20 % and 14 % respectively). There were increased PHQ-9 scores in the pre-diabetes group compared to T2DM (p-value <0.05). No statistically significant differences in depressive symptom scores were found when comparing the pre-diabetes group with T1DM, and T1DM with T2DM. When looking at sex differences, there were no statistically significant differences between T1DM and pre-diabetes males and females, however PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores in T2DM females were poorer compared to T2DM males.

Conclusion

The results of our study found patients living with pre-diabetes, and females with T2DM are vulnerable populations who should be screened for mental health disorders. Early screening for mental health disorders for individuals diagnosed with prediabetes, T1DM, and T2DM should be routinely conducted to potentially improve health outcomes.

Perspectives of Persons With Type 2 Diabetes Toward Diabetes Self-Management: A Qualitative Study

Background. The global increase in type 2 diabetes (T2D) poses a significant public health challenge worldwide. Due to the chronic and complex nature of the disease, management does not depend on pharmacotherapy alone; rather, a comprehensive medical and self-management plan is required. Diabetes Self-Management Education programs should address diabetes-specific behaviors and be grounded in patients' perceptions of their disease and its consequences. Aim. The study aims to understand perceptions of diabetes self-management (DSM) among persons of different nationalities with T2D living in Qatar. Method. A phenomenological qualitative study was implemented using four focus group interviews using Triandis Interpersonal Behavior Model to understand factors influencing DSM perceptions and behaviors. Therefore, deductive content analysis was used, also inductive content analysis used to find new emerging themes. Twenty-nine participants with T2D of 12 different nationalities were recruited. Results. Content analyses revealed that participants were mainly motivated to manage their diabetes by fear of future health complications-and the resulting impact on their families-triggered by witnessing these complications on other family members and friends. Factors that influenced DSM included cultural factors such as food content and holidays' customs, weather conditions, psychological distress, and social factors such as lack of family support. Furthermore, access to healthy food, number of working hours and time, and cost of DSM supplies were found to be among the barriers to DSM. Conclusion. Understanding and considering patients' perspectives is a core component of culturally competent and evidence-based DSM programs, and it should be considered in any DSM program.

Dementia caregiving in the Middle East and North Africa: A scoping review

Care for persons with dementia in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is undertaken predominantly by family members, domestic workers, and private nurses within the home. Domestic caregivers possess different understandings and varying degrees of knowledge of dementia that are influenced by complex socio-cultural and religious factors. With much of the burden falling on the shoulders of "invisible" caregivers, the role and needs of these individuals require deeper scrutiny. The purpose of this scoping review was to examine the empirical studies published on caring for persons with dementia in Arab countries of the MENA region. Using a systematic review technique, searches were conducted on PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar using database-specific terms associated with caregiving, dementia, aging, and the MENA region. To ensure local and regional research was captured, hand searches of regional journals, reference lists of included articles, and Arabic databases Al-Manhal and e-Marefa were also searched. No date restrictions were imposed. Twenty studies met inclusion criteria and the following themes were identified: caregiving experiences and the burden of care; barriers to caregiving; and caregiver recommendations to improve care. Results demonstrate that studies about informal caregivers and dementia within Arab-Muslim populations are underrepresented in the research. This review highlights the paucity of literature on service users' experiences and underscores the need for future research specific to dementia care within the Arab-Islamic sociocultural context. These trajectories are especially pertinent given the unprecedented aging demographics of the MENA populations.