Assessment of Insulin Administration Methods: Perceptions by Patients and Significant Others Instrument Development.

Area of Science:

• Diabetes management
• Patient-reported outcomes
• Health services research

Background:

• Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) and multiple daily insulin injections (MDII) are key diabetes management strategies.
• Assessing the impact of these strategies on patients and their support systems is crucial for optimizing care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate four parallel survey instruments.
• To evaluate patient and significant other perceptions of CSII and MDII.
• To assess the impact of these insulin delivery methods on diabetes management and lifestyle.

Main Methods:

• Sociotechnical systems theory and the life patterns model provided the theoretical framework.
• Four parallel survey instruments were created: patient CSII, patient MDII, significant other CSII, and significant other MDII.
• Instruments collected demographic data and perceptions of CSII and MDII.

Main Results:

• The validity and reliability of all four instruments were successfully established.
• The developed instruments provide a robust tool for assessing patient and significant other perspectives.

Conclusions:

• The validated instruments can be utilized or adapted for studies on the impact of other chronic disease management approaches.
• Replication of the study with diverse geographic samples is recommended to enhance generalizability.