Socio-psychological problems of patients with late adolescent onset type 1 diabetes--analysis by qualitative...

To identify the serious emotional impacts as socio-psychological problems encountered by patients with late adolescent onset type 1 diabetes since their disease onset.

Thirteen patients (aged 21-35 years) with type 1 diabetes, onset age from 17 to 28, were interviewed. To extract their disturbing experiences from the content of the interviews, a qualitative analysis was carried out. We categorized their experiences as socio-psychological problems.

Twenty-two items of socio-psychological problems which posed obstacles to the control of diabetes were found. Problems with particularly strong impacts included a fulminant crisis prior to hospitalization; surprise and shock of patients themselves and family members upon diagnosis; unacceptable feelings against insulin injections and diabetes; difficulty and anxiety over frequent and unexpected occurrences of hypoglycemia; noncompliance with diet therapy; stress of disclosing the disease to fiancés and their parents; no understanding of or knowledge about diabetes on the part of people around them; restricted range in occupation selection, travel and daily life; existence of stigma; no place for performing insulin injections; resistant or negative feelings against disclosing to others that they had diabetes; acceptance of the disease using various emotional coping behaviors.

These results suggest that for patients with such problems we should seek a more effective sort of intervention to improve their quality of life (QOL).