Quality of Life and Psychological Distress in Diabetic Patients During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review Study

During the COVID-19 pandemic, diabetic patients need psychological support, in addition to physical care. In this regard, the present study aimed to assess the quality of life and psychological distress of diabetic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this systematic review, a query on Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct was carried out for the titles and abstracts of articles published between 2020 (February) and 2021 (July) using the following keywords: Coronavirus 2019, Quality of Life, Diabetes, Depression, Stress, Anxiety, Mental Health, Pandemic, and Psychology. The abstracts of the published articles were reviewed, and in several stages, duplicate and unrelated items were removed from the study. Finally, 23 articles were selected for comprehensive review and data extraction. In this study, the PRISMA Systematic Review Study Guide was used.

Studies have demonstrated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with diabetes experienced poor quality of life due to insufficient access to insulin and physicians, social isolation, distance from friends, loneliness, and lack of physical activity. Moreover, a weak immune system and fear of developing COVID-19 caused many diabetic patients to suffer from stress, depression, anxiety, and poor sleep quality. Furthermore, such factors as female gender, low income and education, loneliness, history of mental disorder, physical inactivity, smoking, fear of COVID-19, and lack of social support led to the aggravation of psychological distress and reduced quality of life in diabetic patients.

It is acknowledged that during the Covid-19 pandemic, diabetic patients are among the high-risk groups and their mental health plays a crucial role in the severity of disease and their blood sugar levels. Therefore, virtual and remote psychological care is required during this period to increase the quality of life and mental health of diabetic patients.