Disclosure(s): I do not have a relationship with a for-profit and/or a not-for-profit organization to disclose
Blinded Abstract: Introduction: Latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA), characterized by gradual autoimmune destruction of beta-cells that spans between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, currently lacks a comprehensive assessment for diabetes distress.
Objective: Assess diabetes distress in PwLADA and compare it to persons living with type 1 diabetes (PwT1D). Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of online Diabetes Distress Scale DDS-17 in the Canadian BETTER registry on 2877 participants; 266 (9%) LADA and 2611 (91%) T1D. Four categories, classified as low or moderate/high, were used to calculate distress scores: emotional burden, physician distress, regimen distress and interpersonal distress. Chi-square was used for comparison with T1D. Results: PwLADA vs PwT1D were 50 ± 13 y.o. vs 40 ± 16 y.o (p < 0.001); 67% vs. 64% females (p 0.4); diabetes duration 10 ± 9 vs. 22 ± 15 years (p < 0.001). Over half (56%) PwLADA experienced moderate/high distress. Peak scores were detected for emotional burden (82%); followed by interpersonal distress (46%), regimen distress (46%) and physician distress (30%) and were comparable to scores reported by PwT1D, except for emotional burden being higher in PwLADA. Significant differences were detected for higher regimen distress among those with severe hypoglycemia in the past year (56% vs 18%, p=0.02), A1c ≥ 9.1% (93% vs 24%, p< 0.001) and those who do not carb count (62% vs 38%, p=0.01). Conclusion: Diabetes distress, especially emotional burden, is highly prevalent among PwLADA.
