Compliance of adolescents with diabetes

The purpose of this article is to describe the compliance of adolescents with diabetes and some factors connected to it. Altogether, 300 individuals aged 13 to 17 years were randomly selected from the Finnish Social Insurance Institution's register. Every fifth person on the list was included in the sample. Ninety-seven percent (N = 289) of the adolescents with diabetes returned the questionnaire. The data were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Only about one fifth (19%) of the respondents with diabetes felt that they complied fully with the health regimens, whereas 75% placed themselves in the category of satisfactory compliance and the remaining 6% reported poor compliance. Compliance with home monitoring was poorest: Only 25% said they fully complied with the home monitoring instructions, and 51% showed poor home monitoring compliance. The highest degree of compliance was reported for insulin treatment, with 81% of the patients ranking in the top category. Some statistically significant (p < .001) relationships between the degree of compliance and the background variables, such as the duration of disease; exercise; smoking; alcohol intake; and serum glycosylated hemoglobin (GHbA1c) value, were found. Good motivation, a strong sense of normality, energy and willpower, support from parents; physicians; and nurses, a positive attitude toward the disease and its treatment, no threat to one's social well-being, and fears of complications explained good compliance (p < .001).