Endocrine Abstracts

Psychological mental stress is associated with poor glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study is to exam the effect of psychological mental stress on glycemic control during short-term admission for diabetic educational program in type 2 diabetic patients. This study was carried out in 18 type 2 diabetic patients aged 44–82 years who were shortly admitted for diabetic educational program in our hospital. We measured salivary alpha-amylase activity for the marker of psychological mental stress using a portable analyzer at first and last days in educational hospitalization and then patients were divided into two groups, including one group was to decrease salivary alpha-amylase activity in before and after measurement (named stress-improved group), the other group was to increase (named stress-worsened group). Moreover, health-related quality of life was evaluated using the 36-item Short Form (SF-36) version 2 questionnaire. The SF-36 is divided into eight categories: physical functioning, role limitation due to physical health, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role limitation due to emotional health, and mental health. These scales are scored from 0–100, with higher scores indicating better states of health and quality of life. After measurement of salivary alpha-amylase activity, there were nine patients in stress-improved group and nine patients in stress-worsened group. There were no significant baseline differences between the two groups, e.g., age, duration of diabetes mellitus, body mass index and average glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c). However, HbA1c at 3 month after discharge was pivotally decreased in stress-improved group as compared with in stress-worsened group. Furthermore, SF-36 analysis showed that the scores of social functioning and mental health were significantly high in stress-improved group as compared with in stress-worsened group. In conclusion, it was suggested that the psychological approach but also medication was required for glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients, possibly indicating that co-medical staff such as nurses should also develop those approaches to diminish psychological mental stress.