Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Improving IV Insulin Administration in a Community Hospital
Published on: June 11, 2012
A comparison of adherence to hypoglycemic medications between Type 2 diabetes patients with and without serious
Julie Kreyenbuhl1, Jaclyn Leith, Deborah R Medoff
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. jkreyenb@psych.umaryland.edu
Abstract:
Inadequate self-management of chronic medical conditions like Type 2 diabetes may play a role in the poor health status of individuals with serious mental illnesses. We compared adherence to hypoglycemic medications and blood glucose control between 44 diabetes patients with a serious mental illness and 30 patients without a psychiatric illness. The two groups did not differ in their ability to manage a complex medication regimen as assessed by a performance-based measure of medication management capacity. However, significantly fewer patients with a mental illness self-reported nonadherence to their hypoglycemic regimens compared to those without a mental illness. Although individuals with mental illnesses also had better control of blood glucose, this metabolic parameter was not correlated with adherence to hypoglycemic medications in either patient group. The experience of managing a chronic mental illness may confer advantages to individuals with serious mental illnesses in the self-care of co-occurring medical conditions like Type 2 diabetes.
Related Concept Videos
Hypoglycemia
Type II Diabetes Mellitus III: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnosis
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 2 and Gestational
Diabetes Mellitus: Overview and Type I Subtype
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. As a result, the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin, and individuals with...
Diabetes: Management and Pharmacotherapy
Insulin remains the cornerstone of treatment for most patients with type 1 and many...
Hypoglycemia and Glucagon