Learning Objective 1: acknowledge the importance of adherence to treatment;
Learning Objective 2: identify variables that influence adherence;
Method: Correlational – descriptive study. An accidental, convenience sample was selected, constituted by 40 youths under treatment to diabetic illness. Adherence was assessed by EAT (Almeida e Matos, 2000), self-efficacy by EAED (Grossman et al, 1987) and knowledge by a questionnaire designed by the authors.
Results: Mean age was 14,68 years, 57,5% boys and 42,5% girls, 45% belong to the association of youth diabetics and 55% don't. No differences were found between groups in adherence and knowledge, but the youths that belong to the association have higher feelings of self-efficacy (p=0,004). Positive correlations, statistically very significant, were found between adherence and self-efficacy (r = 0,347; p = 0,028) and between adherence and knowledge (r = 0,510; p = 0,001).
Conclusion: Effective diabetes management requires adherence to a complex regimen to maintain quality of life and prevent complications. The relationship between adherence and psychosocial factors is complex. Social support, such as belonging to an association of youth diabetics did not mean better adherence, despite those youths have higher feelings of self-efficacy and the positive correlation found between these two variables. Our findings suggest that knowledge and self-efficacy are related to higher rates of adherence.
The limited investigations of predictors of adherence from a development perspective in paediatrics suggest the need for further study.
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