Psychometric Evaluation of the Hungarian Adaptation of the Diabetes Distress Scale in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes.

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Diabetes-specific distress (DD) is a crucial predictor of patients' self-care, necessitating reliable screening tools. The Diabetes Distress Scale captures typical sources of patients' distress effectively. Methods: The Hungarian Diabetes Distress Scale (HDDS) was employed in two studies with 450 type 2 diabetes patients. Study 1 explored DD's link to the specific quality of life, while study 2 examined its associations with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and illness perception. We evaluated HDDS's construct validity, internal consistency, and intercorrelations. Convergent validity and discriminant validity were analyzed in the second study. Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses validated HDDS's structure. Subscales exhibited strong internal consistency and correlated as expected with quality of life, anxiety, depression, illness perception, and demographic/medical data. Conclusions: The Hungarian DDS demonstrates robust psychometric properties, affirming its reliability and validity.