The Experience of Fear of Complications Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Qualitative Study

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a globally concerning chronic disease. Fear of complications (FoC) refers to a unique diabetes-related emotion among diabetic patients, arising from worries that complications may cause physical harm, which can affect blood glucose control. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehensively understand the factors influencing FoC and implement effective intervention plans. To understand the real experiences of patients with T2DM when facing the FoC, so as to provide a reference for implementing targeted nursing intervention measures to alleviate the patients' psychological FoC. Using the purposive sampling method, 16 patients with T2DM were selected as the research subjects from the Department of Endocrinology of a Class III Grade A hospital in Shaanxi Province from March to April 2025. A phenomenological research method was adopted to conduct semi-structured interviews with them. The Colaizzi's seven-step analysis method was used to analyze the data and extract themes. A total of 3 themes and 9 sub-themes were extracted, including disease uncertainty (uncertainty in symptoms, uncertainty in management, uncertainty caused by medical staff sources, uncertainty caused by personal sources), social support (peer support, medical support, family support), and coping styles (acceptance and facing, evasion and submission). The experience of FoC among patients with T2DM is complex and diverse. Medical staff should attach great importance to providing psychological counseling for these patients, eliminating their sense of uncertainty about the disease, offering professional guidance, and assisting in achieving multi-faceted support. This can help alleviate their experience of FoC and thus promote their physical and mental health.