EXAMINING BIOBEHAVIORAL VARIABLES AND PREDICTORS ASSOCIATED WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES SELF- MANAGEMENT

Type 2 diabetes mellitus self-management is a challenging process that brings forward a variety of emotional responses. The purpose of this work was to explore relationships between diabetes distress, self-efficacy and resilience and outcomes of glycosylated hemoglobin, quality of life and health status. A cross sectional descriptive design was used for this pilot study of 78 individuals enrolled from an Endocrine clinic in the Midwest United States and a Primary Care clinic in the southeast United States. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to characterize the sample and model variables. Spearman’s correlation was completed to identify relationships among variables. A stepwise building approach was used to identify significant interactions and determine predictors of the study outcomes. The results of this study confirm the presence of facilitators and barriers in type 2 diabetes mellitus self-management and their relationships with distal outcomes. The findings demonstrate that diabetes distress is a predictor of health status and quality of life. The findings of this study provide a link to other facilitator and barrier variables such as provider collaboration, diabetes self-management education, treatment regimen, ethnicity and years since diagnosis which can be incorporated into the comprehensive theoretical model. This study contributes to the understanding of the emotional aspect of diabetes as it relates to self-management of T2DM. Continuing this work will allow researchers to examine and better understand important factors of self-management. This ongoing work will hopefully lead to improved support in self-management efforts and better outcomes