The diabetes-related attitudes of health care professionals and persons with diabetes in Argentina Actitudes relacionadas con la diabetes en los profesionales sanitarios y las personas con diabetes en Argentina

• Main Authors: Juan J. Gagliardino, Claudio González, Joaquín E. Caporale
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2007
• Subjects: Diabetes mellitus; conocimientos; actitudes y práctica en salud; grupo de atención al paciente; autocuidado; Argentina; health knowledge; attitude; practice; patient care team; self care; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/edd23fcac7c7455c8247e63cbe3041ba

OBJECTIVE: To test diabetes-related attitudes of health care team members (HCTMs) and people with diabetes in a developing country, in this case, Argentina. METHODS: The third version of the Diabetes Attitudes Scale (DAS-3) was randomly administered, in person, to 252 HCTMs (nurses, nutritionists, physicians, podiatrists, and social workers) and 279 people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus in several provinces of Argentina in 2004. Data from 531 completed questionnaires were included in the study. The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance, covariance, chi-square, and t-tests. RESULTS: Although few, the differences in attitudes of HCTMs and people with diabetes were significant. The two groups expressed only slight agreement on DAS-3 statements such as "seriousness of type 2 diabetes," "value of tight control," and "psychosocial impact of diabetes;" and disagreed completely on "patient autonomy." No significant differences were recorded between people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes regarding "seriousness of the disease," but from both groups, those individuals who had previously attended a diabetes education course assigned this statement a higher score (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The unfavorable trend among the participants, similar to that recorded in developed countries, would contribute to the poor treatment outcomes observed in people with type 2 diabetes. Changing these attitudes by means of education could contribute to improving the quality of care and of life for people with diabetes and to decreasing the cost of the disease. OBJETIVO: Analizar las actitudes relacionadas con la diabetes en los miembros del equipo de salud (MES) y las personas con diabetes en un país en desarrollo, Argentina. MÉTODOS: Se administró de forma aleatoria la tercera versión de la Escala de Actitudes en la Diabetes (DAS-3) a 252 MES (enfermeros, nutriólogos, médicos, podólogos y trabajadores sociales) y a 279 personas con diabetes mellitus tipos 1 ó 2 en varias provincias de Argentina en 2004. Los ...