The following is a summary of the “Cognitive behavior therapy for diabetes distress, depression, health anxiety, quality of life and treatment adherence among patients with type-II diabetes mellitus: a randomized control trial,” published in the February 2023 issue of Psychiatry by Abbas, et al.

Depression is a major side effect of living with diabetes and the physical and mental health of people suffering from the condition’s prevalent comorbidity. Effective treatments for depression and for enhancing the quality of life in people with many chronic illnesses, including diabetes, include psychotherapeutic approaches. This study compared the effectiveness of experimental and waitlist control conditions of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in treating depressive symptoms in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

The 130 people with type 2 diabetes were recruited from Faisalabad hospitals’ outpatient clinics. About 90 patients who met the criteria were randomly split into 2 groups: the experimental group (n = 45) and the waiting control group (n = 45). All of the patients were interviewed and evaluated twice, 16 weeks apart. First, they received patients referred to us by medical experts at the individual hospitals whose diagnoses were based on the patient’s medical records. They then used various tools to measure primary and secondary outcomes, including the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI), the Revised Version of the Diabetes Quality of Life Questionnaire (DQLQ), and the General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS). 

This data was analyzed using a repeated-measures ANOVA technique. The findings indicated that patients who received CBT got a significant reduction in their diabetes distress F(1,60) = 222.710, P < 0.001, η² = .788), depressive symptoms F(1,60) = 94.436, P < 0.001, η² = .611), health anxiety F(1,60) = 201.915, P < .0.001, η² = 771), and a significant improvement in their quality of life F(1,60) = 83.352, P < 0.001, η2 = .581), treatment adherence F(1,60) = 67.579, P < 0.001, η² = .566) and physical activity schedule F(1,60) = 164.245, P < .0.001, η² = .736 as compared to the patients in the waitlist control condition. Depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, and health anxiety can all be effectively treated with cognitive behavior therapy, and the individual’s quality of life, treatment adherence, and physical activity will improve.

Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-04546-w