A satisfac¸ ão com a vida e a adesão ao tratamento da diabetes dos jovens adultos com diabetes tipo 1

Abstract

Introduction: Nowadays, the life satisfaction and the adherence to diabetes management tasks of young adults with type 1 diabetes can be increasingly affectedby the change and instability at several levels, throughout early adulthood, namely social, occupational, familiar and emotional. Aims: The objectives targeted the evaluation of lifestyles and health behaviours, social support, satisfaction with life and treatment adherence of young adults with type 1 diabetes. Methods: This research was developed with young adults with type 1 diabetes that attended diabetes consultations. This study included a quantitative analysis of questionnaires filled in by 278 young adults with type 1 diabetes, ranging between 18 and 35 years old. Results: Young adults consider having a good social support, from family, friends, peers and health care providers. Satisfaction with life is scored at 6.6 ± 1.7 (on a scale 0-10). Factorial analysis relating life‘s satisfaction scale allowed to find 2 factors that explain 75% of total variance: quality of life (58%) and changes’ expectations (17%). Most of young adults show good adherence to dietary intake (83%), insulin therapy (83%) and glucose monitoring (73%), but only one third practice recommended physical activity. We verified positive statistically significant correlation between adherence to nutrition, insulin therapy and glucose monitoring. Youngsters present 8.7 ± 1.6% as mean value for HbA1c. The highest levels of HbA1c are related to less frequent glucose monitoring and less insulin administration. Conclusions: The young adults with type 1 diabetes presented good social support and satisfaction with life. Nevertheless, despite a reasonable adherence to diabetes treatment and a healthy lifestyle, metabolic control is unsatisfactory, A qualitative research with focus groups is being developed to better understand and address these discrepancies.