THE EFFECT OF ALEXITHYMIA ON THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SELFCARE AND CONTROL OF BLOOD SUGAR IN TYPE II DIABETES PATIENTS

Cognitive and emotional deficits in alexithymia lead to various problems in somatic disorders and other medical conditions for example Diabetics. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of alexithymia on relationship between self-care and control of blood sugar in type 2 diabetes patients within the Iranian social and cultural context. The present study was a cross-sectional investigation. The study sample consisted of 100 (60 females and 40 males, aged 40 to 70 years) type 2 diabetic outpatients visiting Labbafinejad hospital during the year 2012. Measures for data collection included demographic, anthropometric and clinical questionnaires, the short scale for diabetes self-care activities and the diabetes-related quality of life. Blood tests were performed to obtain HbA1c levels and other laboratory measures related to the study. Data were analyzed using SPSS16 software. Pearson product correlation results yielded significant negative associations between self- care activities and alexithymia as well as HbA1c levels in type 2 diabetes patients. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that diabetes-related self-care activities explained 40% of HbA1c variance and alexithymia added explanatory variance above and beyond self-care, to jointly explain 58% of HbA1c variance. Based on the present findings, diabetes-related self-care and alexithymia predicted HbA1c levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. Given the evidence on the additive validity of alexithymia in the prediction of HbA1c levels found in the present study, attention to emotional competencies and disorders of Iranian diabetic patients may effectively contribute to their control of diabetes.