Psychological profiles of individuals with type 2 diabetes and their association with physical and psychological outcomes: a cluster analysis

Abstract

Objectives

This study aimed to identify clusters of participants with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) at risk for developing psychological and somatic distress symptoms. Moreover, we investigated whether the different clusters were associated with glycemic control, sleep, and physical activity levels.

Design and main outcome measures. In a cross-sectional design, participants with T2DM (n = 269) completed questionnaires on psychological and somatic distress, sleep disorders and physical activity.

Results

Cluster analyses yielded three groups: a) "high self-confident and low demoralised"; b) "low support and low involvement"; c) "high consequences, high demoralisation and nagging". The groups were distinguished by the social, cognitive, and vital exhaustion variables and significant differences in diabetes-related psychological distress and physical activity. The measure of glycemic control did not differ between clusters. The "high self-confident and low demoralised" group displayed the lowest scores on psychological distress compared to the other clusters.

Conclusions

Results suggest that social cognitive dimensions and affective states play a key role in defining clusters in participants with T2DM. Thus, we need to consider the psychological profiles of participants with T2DM when designing interventions to improve self-management strategies.

Keywords:

• Type 2 diabetes
• social cognitive dimensions
• cluster analysis
• diabetes distress
• physical activity

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to Privacy Restrictions.

Notes

1 We used this scale rather than the MDQ self-efficacy subscale, because this scale is more comprehensive and is composed by items more situation-specific than the MDQ self-efficacy subscale (e.g., "How safe / able to do half an hour of moderate physical activity every day?" vs “How confident are you in your ability to exercise regularly?”)