Reports From the Field: Support is a factor in how diabetics manage their disease
Family and emotional support are key factors in how well diabetics manage their disease, a new international study has shown.
The DAWN (Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes, and Needs) study looked at the perceptions, motivations and need for information of more than 5,000 diabetes patients in 13 countries, including the United States.
The first results of the study indicate that diabetes patients consider a supportive network of family, colleagues, and friends to be at least as important as the medication they take in helping them manage their disease.
Final results will be available early this year.
The interim results also indicate that people who do not have access to a community of support, especially the young and elderly living alone, may be less likely to comply with their medical regimens, putting them at risk of inadequate control of their diabetes. Patients responding to the survey also indicated that family or social networks sometimes can put too much pressure on them about taking care of their diabetes, increasing their anxiety.
"This study adds to the growing body of evidence that psychosocial issues play a critical role in how people manage their diabetes and in their long-term health and quality of life. The DAWN study is unique because it considers these issues from the perspective of people with diabetes and health care providers in many countries of the world," says Richard Rubin, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a member of the International DAWN Advisory Panel.
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