Heritage College team publishes study on diabetes-related stress

A new study by faculty and student researchers from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine has found that going to college can increase the risk of diabetes-related stress for those who have the disease.

The researchers found that people working at or attending universities had high levels of diabetes distress, a condition of feeling worried and frustrated about living with diabetes that can lead to fewer self-care behaviors, higher blood glucose levels and lower quality of life.

Knowing this, suggests lead study author Elizabeth Beverly, Ph.D., universities should anticipate that employees and students with diabetes will experience disease-related stress, and should use their resources to provide support.

The research, published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, quickly attracted attention from both U.S. and international media, with articles in outlets including the Philadelphia Inquirer, diabetes.co.uk and MedIndia. Read JAOA’s news release here.

The study was authored by Beverly, associate professor of family medicine and holder of the Heritage Faculty Endowed Fellowship in Behavioral Diabetes, Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O., Research Endowment; Rochelle G. Rennie, D.O. (’18); Emily H. Guseman, Ph.D., assistant professor of family medicine; Alicia Rodgers, M.S., OMS III; and Amber M. Healy, D.O. (’09), assistant clinical professor of specialty medicine, director of the Diabetes Fellowship and endocrinologist with OhioHealth Physicians Group Heritage College.

Rennie worked on the study as a post-doctoral student after graduating with her D.O. degree in 2018. Beverly, Guseman and Healy are all affiliated with the Diabetes Institute.