Social adaptation in juvenile diabetes

A sample of 36 juvenile diabetics, age 19--28 years, and with a duration of diabetes of 14--17 years were interviewed with regard to their social adaptation. Five patients could not be traced and six patients did not want to participate. Educational and professional careers were normal. However, none had received individual diabetes-oriented vocational guidance. A majority of patients was unsatisfied with the information given at the diabetic clinics, and a negative attitude towards society and its institutions was common. Patients often felt that as children they had been neglected by the diabetic team, while their parents received all information. It is concluded that diabetic children and adolescents require continuous socio-psychological support, that psychologists and/or social workers should be permanent members of the diabetic teams, and that paediatricians should follow diabetic patients until they are fully grown up.