9th spring scientific meeting of the EASD PsychoSocial Aspects of Diabetes study group

The theme of this year's meeting was the psychological impact of diabetes complications and Professor Andrew Boulton (UK), Consultant Diabetologist and the Honorary Secretary of EASD, delivered the Anita Carlson Lecture, which was entitled ‘The challenge of the long-term complications of diabetes’. The focus of Professor Boulton's talk was on end-stage renal disease. He described the onerous treatment options and how overwhelming these can be. He stressed the importance of education and training, for both patients and the nurses who care for them. Given that hyperglycaemia can remain undetected for many years before type 2 diabetes is diagnosed (often through the presence of one or more complications), Professor Boulton asked how can we raise awareness of complications without raising anxiety levels? The following morning commenced with two sessions of oral presentations of ‘work in progress’ (otherwise known as projects being planned or newly started). The first of these, chaired by Dr Bob Anderson (USA), saw Dr Christel Hendrieckx (Belgium) presenting her work on the psychological impact of islet cell transplantation. Dr Hendrieckx showed that at 12-month follow up people who had undergone islet cell transplantation had improved metabolic control but had increased levels of anxiety. This may have been related to concerns about treatment, side effects of medication and uncertainty of outcome. Bart Thoolen (The Netherlands) then presented his work on a behavioural intervention designed to help self-management. This was part of the well-known ADDITION study in which three countries (UK, Denmark and The Netherlands) are currently participating. Dr Arie Nouwen (UK) concluded the first session by outlining his plans for a novel study of emotional reactions to food-related cues in people with type 2 diabetes. The second session of the morning, chaired by Dr Chas Skinner (UK), continued the theme of ‘work in progress’. First, Koula Asimakopoulou (UK) talked about her research on the perceptions of risk of the development of diabetes complications, in particular for coronary heart disease and stroke. Then Dr Bernard Kulzer (Germany) discussed his research on possible ways of bringing diabetes prevention strategies into clinical practice. Dr Kulzer emphasised the importance of combining weight reduction and physical activity into one intervention as well as focusing on the self-management abilities of the participants. In the final session of the morning, the Vice Chairman of PSAD, Dr Norbert Hermanns (Germany), presented the 1st PSAD/Novo Nordisk Science Award to Dr Frans Pouwer (The Netherlands). This peer-reviewed award was set up to stimulate and reward excellence in psychosocial research in diabetes. After receiving his award, Dr Pouwer gave a presentation of his work on how structured monitoring of well-being is able to improve the psychological well-being of people with diabetes. In the afternoon, Dr Mirjana Pibernik (Croatia) chaired a session of ‘completed work’, starting with a presentation by Dr Frank Petrak (Germany) on coping with type 1 diabetes during the first two years after diagnosis. Dr Petrak's research suggested that coping strategies change over time and may be associated with stage of the disease. Dr Rachel Povey (UK) then discussed her research on dietary self-care in people with type 2 diabetes. She showed the importance of understanding people's underlying beliefs when promoting appropriate and effective dietary self-care. Finally in this session, Dr Mark Peyrot (USA) presented his research on the relationship between complications and psychological well-being, using data from the DAWN (Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs) study. Dr Peyrot's analysis demonstrated that the experience of diabetes complications increases people's concerns about negative health and social consequences, which in turn contribute to poor psychological well-being. The implications of these findings for diabetes care were discussed by the study group, as was the potential for psychosocial interventions to improve psychological well-being. The afternoon concluded with a poster presentation session, at which seven members exhibited their research. Anke Braun (Germany) presented the results of a trial of a structured treatment and teaching programme for older people with type 2 diabetes. She demonstrated that participation in a programme such as this can improve quality of life and reduce fear of hypoglycaemia. Dr Maria Colombini (Italy) presented her work on increasing the understanding of the implications of diabetes in adolescents' day-to-day lives. Dr Colombini's research is also designed to help improve awareness of the need for clear information for appropriate self-management in these young people. Dr Hilary Hearnshaw (UK) presented her plans for an exploratory study on the experiences of people who have lived with type 1 diabetes for more than two decades, her aim being a greater understanding of the role of psychosocial factors in the development of or absence of diabetes complications. Dr Frans Pouwer (The Netherlands) presented a review of the literature on the role of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the prevention and/or treatment of depression. Mirela Pop Bogatean (Romania) presented practical strategies for overcoming psychological insulin resistance. This is a common problem found in many of the different countries represented at PSAD. Dr Nuha Saleh-Stattin (Sweden) reported on the development of a diabetes education programme for immigrant patients with diabetes. Finally, Alette Wessels (The Netherlands) described plans for an innovative piece of research to examine the effect of microvascular disease on the ability of the cerebral circulation to respond with an adequately increased blood flow following acute hypoglycaemia. A second hypothesis to be examined is that impaired acute microvascular response to hypoglycaemia will adversely affect performance in a memory task. The final session of the PSAD meeting (oral presentations of completed work), chaired by Dr Karin Kanc (Slovenia), began with Dr Arie Nouwen (UK) presenting his research on the motivational determinants of dietary self-care. In a study of French-Canadian adults with diabetes, Dr Nouwen demonstrated that self-efficacy and autonomous self-regulation predicted changes in self-care only in those people who were highly autonomous. Dr Elena Surkova (Russia) then presented her research on diabetes and depression, in particular the reaction to the diagnosis of diabetes complications. Dr Surkova suggested that there was a brief depressive reaction to complications, which could be considered similar to an adjustment disorder. The final presentation was given by Dr Marie Clark (UK), and led to an interesting debate between study group members on lifestyle behaviour change in people with type 2 diabetes. The 9th Annual Meeting saw Professor Frank Snoek (The Netherlands), the founder of PSAD, stepping down from his role as Chairperson. To mark this occasion, the incoming Chair, Dr Norbert Hermanns (Germany), gave a very well-received presentation to honour Professor Snoek. Dr Cathy Lloyd (UK) then thanked Dr Nuha Saleh-Stattin (Sweden) on behalf of the PSAD members for her incredibly hard work over the years as Honorary Secretary. Further thanks were given to Dr Jane Speight (UK) as outgoing Honorary Treasurer of the PSAD, by Dr Mirjana Pibernik (Croatia) who will be the new Treasurer. It remained for the new Chair of PSAD, Dr Norbert Hermanns to thank our sponsors, Soren Skovlund and Lisbeth Vang (Novo Nordisk, Denmark) for their excellent organisation of the meeting, their generous sponsorship and their hospitality, before declaring this exciting, thought-provoking meeting closed. The PSAD provides an excellent forum for presentations by experienced and more junior researchers alike. The abstract deadline for our next Spring Scientific Meeting, to be held in Germany, 22–24 April 2005, will be early in 2005. New members are welcome to apply for membership at that time. For further information, go to the PSAD website (www.emgo.nl/psad) or contact the Honorary Secretary: Cathy Lloyd, PhD, The Open University, School of Health & Social Welfare, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK; e-mail: C.E.Lloyd@open.ac.uk. Travel grants are awarded each year to junior members and those from Eastern European countries on a competitive basis. Applications are made at the time of submission of abstracts (date to be announced). The PSAD Novo Nordisk Research Award (details available from the Honorary Secretary) will be awarded to the sole or main author of an outstanding peer-reviewed paper furthering our understanding of the psychosocial aspects of diabetes.

Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.