A comparative study on assessment of perceived stress in common non-communicable disease

Introduction and Aim: Stress is defined as ‘a perceived strain’ experienced by either stimulating or by intimidating and depending on the appraisal, it can be either adaptive or premeditated. Long-term stress triggers high levels of cortisol which may be the reason, how stress can elevate cholesterol level. Hence this study is conducted to compare and assess the stress levels in noncommunicable diseases including type II diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyper-cholesterolemia and thyroid disorders. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted by administering a validated perceived stress analysis questionnaire on patients attending the General Surgery department of tertiary health care centre in Mangalore to evaluate the level of stress experience. The recruited patients were clustered into type II diabetes mellitus group, thyroid group, and hypertensive group. Results: In a moderate stress level group, we observed there was a significant difference in the stress score among all the three groups. The descriptive statistics suggested that the thyroid group had lowest mean score as compared with the other two groups. Conclusion: This study concluded that suitable psychological and counseling modality treatment may be required for the people suffering from hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, thyroid disorders as well as diabetes to control the stress.