The effect of spiritual education on anxiety, depression and glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients: a randomized controlled study

Background
Common mental and psychological disorders in people with diabetes include anxiety and depression, which strongly affect the lives of diabetic patients and management of this disease.

Objectives
We aimed to evaluate whether spiritual education has any impact on depression and anxiety disorders and blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Material and methods
A randomized control trial was carried out on 146 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who referred to the diabetes outpatient services of the Imam Reza Clinic in Shiraz. Eligible patients were randomly assigned to the experimental group (73 subjects) and control group (73 subjects). The subjects in the experimental group were trained over four 45-minute sessions for two weeks, and they practiced daily for four months. The control group received routine clinical care. Anxiety and depression were measured by validated questionnaires. The HbA1c index was also used to evaluate the control of blood sugar.

Results
The results of the study showed a significant reduction in the mean of overt anxiety (p < 0.001) and covert anxiety (p < 0.001) in depression (p < 0.001) and hemoglobin HbA1C (p < 0.001) in the experimental group during the study. There was no difference in the control group.

Conclusions
Spiritual training for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus can lead to a reduction in anxiety and depression. Therefore, it is recommended that spiritual training should be used as an intervention to reduce anxiety and depression and control blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in addition to clinical interventions.