Effectiveness of Mindfulness on Happiness and Blood Sugar Level in Diabetic Patients

Background and Mindfulness is defined as particular targeted attention in present time that is free from prejudice and judgment. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease accompanied by different complications and persistent disabilities. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness on happiness, and level of blood sugar in diabetic patients.
A pretest-posttest design was used including an intervention group and a control group. The participants were 50 patients with type-2 diabetes attending Touba Endocrine Clinic in Sari, Iran. The training program consisted of 10 weekly sessions. Happiness was investigated in participants using the Oxford Happiness Inventory. The levels of glycosylated hemoglobin was recorded before and after the intervention.
There was a significant increase (r= 0.240, P= 0.002) in happiness in posttest (62.60 ± 8.40) compared to that in pretest (46.08 ± 7.16) in the experimental group. But no significant difference was found in the scores of the control group (P= 0.708). The mean blood glucose level showed a significant reduction in case group (r= 0.126, P= 0.000) but it was not significantly different in control group (P= 0.510). The mean glycosylated hemoglobin level in the control group did not change significantly, but it decreased significantly in experimental group (6.52±1.20) compared to pretest (7.57 ± 1.26) (r= 0.104, P= 0.005).
In current study, improvement in average of happiness score and the average of blood sugar level occurred due to mindfulness training.