Evaluation of factors related to glycaemic control among South Korean patients with type 2 diabetes

Aims

To examine specific self‐care behaviours, depression, and diabetes‐related stress among South Korean patients with type 2 diabetes and to evaluate whether these factors are related to glycaemic control.

Methods

This cross‐sectional study included 171 patients with type 2 diabetes who visited an endocrinology clinic. A structured questionnaire and electronic medical records were used to collect data regarding self‐care behaviours, depression, diabetes‐related distress, and glycaemic control between May 2015 and July 2015.

Results

Compared with the group with good glycaemic control, the group with poor glycaemic control had significantly lower values for medication adherence and significantly greater values for regimen‐related distress. Depression was not significantly associated with glycaemic control. In logistic regression analysis, only medication adherence was independently associated with glycaemic control.

Conclusions

Medication adherence should be continuously emphasized and monitored in clinical practice to effectively manage glycaemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, consideration of diabetes‐related distress may help improve glycaemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes.     

The role of long‐term physical exercise on performance and brain activation during the Stroop colour word task in fibromyalgia patients

The Stroop colour word test (SCWT) has been widely used to assess changes in cognitive performance such as processing speed, selective attention and the degree of automaticity. Moreover, the SCWT has proven to be a valuable tool to assess neuronal plasticity that is coupled to improvement in performance in clinical populations. In a previous study, we showed impaired cognitive processing during SCWT along with reduced task‐related activations in patients with fibromyalgia. In this study, we used SCWT and functional magnetic resonance imagingFMRI to investigate the effects of a 15‐week physical exercise intervention on cognitive performance, task‐related cortical activation and distraction‐induced analgesia (DIA) in patients with fibromyalgia and healthy controls. The exercise intervention yielded reduced fibromyalgia symptoms, improved cognitive processing and increased task‐related activation of amygdala, but no effect on DIA. Our results suggest beneficial effects of physical exercise on cognitive functioning in FM.