The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with pre-existing diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM).

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 individuals with DM attending a diabetes clinic to determine the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on anxiety and depressive symptoms, social and occupational functioning and quality of life. Anxiety symptoms were correlated with functioning, quality of life and diabetes self-management.

RESULTS

Likert data demonstrated that social functioning (mean = 5.5, SD = 3.7) and quality of life (mean = 4.1, SD = 3.1) were most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Anxiety symptoms were prevalent with 13 individuals (41.9%) scoring above cut-off scores for the presence of anxiety symptoms based on the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Diabetes self-management was significantly correlated with functioning ( = 0.51, = 0.006) and inversely correlated with anxiety symptoms ( = -0.51, = 0.007). A prior history of a depressive or anxiety disorder was associated with significantly increased anxiety symptoms, as well as impaired global functioning ( < 0.01), poorer self-care of diabetes ( = 0.014) and satisfaction with diabetes treatment ( = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

The psychological and social impact of COVID-19 restrictions on individuals with DM was significant, with poorer management of diabetes correlated with anxiety symptom severity.