Objective: The purpose of the cross-sectional study was to identify associations between diabetes distress, physical functioning, and cognition with hemoglobin A1c in older Black individuals with diabetes and mild cognitive impairment.
Methods: The investigators analyzed previously collected data from 101 older Black individuals with diabetes and mild cognitive impairment. Participants were administered surveys at baseline to assess diabetes distress, physical functioning, and cognitive functioning, and had hemoglobin A1c testing.
Results: Participants with higher hemoglobin A1c showed worse self-reported daily function (r = -0.279, p \u3c .01). Three of four diabetes distress factors were positively correlated with hemoglobin A1c – emotional (r = .276, p \u3c .01), regimen-related (r = .330, p \u3c .01), and interpersonal distress (r = 0.266, p \u3c.01). In a multivariate regression with hemoglobin A1c as the dependent variable, only regimen-related diabetes distress (beta = .282, p = .012) and self-reported daily function (beta = -0.294, p = .027) were significant.
Conclusion: The main finding of this study is that regimen-related diabetes distress and self-reported daily functioning compromise glycemic control in Black individuals with mild cognitive impairment and diabetes. This finding suggests that diabetes interventions should be multi-faceted to improve glycemic control in Black individuals with diabetes, a high-risk population
