Attitudes of diabetic patients toward their disease

Abstract

Background. Education of diabetic patients is integral to effective treatment. Material and methods. In the presented work, we studied Eastern Slovakian patients with diabetes type 2 with or without insulin treatment. We focused on their diabetic self-care and compared their attitudes, education on their disease, and treatment provided by professionals. There were 411 patients in the insulin-treated group. We used the standardized Diabetes Care Profile questionnaire (DCP). Results. The groups had very different attitudes toward diabetic self-care. Patients with provided professional self-care education scored higher in all areas of diabetic care. Appropriate education influenced knowledge and consequently the management and attitudes of diabetic patients toward their disease. Educated patients scored higher in the categories 'Self-care ability', 'Importance of care', 'Self-care adherence', 'Diet adherence', 'Medical barriers', 'Exercise barriers', 'Monitoring barriers' and 'Understanding practice' (p < 0.01). Patients who had not received diabetes education presented higher scores in emotional areas, i.e., negative and positive attitudes toward diabetes mellitus (p < 0.01). Conclusions. We concluded that it is beneficial for a structured educational process to be integrated in diabetes treatment.