Psychological attention in persons with diabetes mellitus: A narrative review of the Mexican clinician practice guidelines

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus involves a series of metabolic disorders caused by the insufficient action of insulin on blood glucose metabolism. Over the years, the mortality rate associated with this disease has increased despite implementing clinical practice guidelines in the Mexican health system. The physical repercussions of the disease can progress to the point where psychological care is necessary to cope with treatment, rehabilitation, and surgery. The objective of this narrative review was to present the contributions of health psychology for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and surgery of diabetes based on the recommendations from Clinical Practice Guidelines. Twenty-one CPG resulted, and then a search of the psychology literature was carried out in databases, including MEDLINE, EBSCO, Google Scholar, SciELO, PsycINFO, PubMed, Cochrane, and Conricyt, where 33 studies met the selection criteria. The literature shows how the inclusion of psychology personnel in multidisciplinary teams promotes improvement in healthcare for people with diabetes mellitus. Through the evidence-based literature, we discuss the importance of the inclusion of health psychology professionals in the health care system to improve the physical, social, and emotional functioning of diabetic patients, as well as to prevent diabetic complications.