Fear of hypoglycemia in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients.

A clinical-psychological study was carried out in 224 insulin-dependent diabetic patients, distributed into two groups according to the frequency of hypoglycemic episodes. Group. A included 124 patients, 65 men and 59 women (mean age 35 +/- 18 years), who reported frequent episodes of hypoglycemia (HG). In the 100 patients of group B (46 men and 54 women with a mean age of 37 +/- 10 years), the HG episodes were only occasional. The degree and type of anxiety were evaluated using: (1) a semistructured interview to determine the HG frequency and intensity; (2) the anxiety scale for HG, with two sections: a) 15 items about the behaviour to prevent HG occurrence and b) 10 items for the anxiety level; (3) the questionnaire of anxiety with 40 items. Highly significant differences between groups were found for the degree of anxiety about HG, particularly for the frequency of high anxiety scores (with ideative ruminations or generalized anxiety, accompanied or not by agoraphobia) (73.86% in group A versus 34.09% in group B; p < 0.001). Relatively significant differences were recorded with respect to the compliance to treatment (preventive behaviour for HG) as well as for the anxiety index (47.95% in group A versus 33.45% in group B), with a prevalence of the covered anxiety in group A and of the overt anxiety scores, indicating a dissimilation tendency of the adaptative role of anxiety as a signal of communication.