Improving interpretability of individual Diabetes Symptom Checklist-Revised (DSC-R) scores: the role of patient characteristics.

IntroductionThe Diabetes Symptom Checklist-Revised (DSC-R) is a well-validated patient-reported outcome designed to assess symptom burden in persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) across eight domains. The DSC-R has so far primarily been used in research settings. With the aim to make the DSC-R applicable in clinical practice by improving its interpretability, we sought to identify patient characteristics associated with DSC-R (domain) scores as a first initiative toward reference values.Research design and methodsWe used baseline data from two large observational studies to select patient characteristics significantly associated with DSC-R domain and total scores. Multivariable Tobit analyses with the backward procedure per (domain) score were performed.ResultsData from 1531 participants with T2DM were included. On a 0-100 scale, the median DSC-R total score was 15.88 (7.06-29.41), with domain scores ranging from 5.00 (0.00-22.50) (pain) to 35.00 (10.00-60.00) (fatigue). Low well-being status was most profoundly associated with higher scores across all domains. Persons with one or more complication, as well as one or more symptomatic hypoglycemic episode during the past 3months, scored higher on (almost) all domains and the total scale.ConclusionsComplications, symptomatic hypoglycemia, and low well-being are important characteristics to take into account when using the DSC-R in individual patients. Further validation of our findings is warranted in diverse patient populations.