Optimization of Diabetes Control in Adolescents: A Cooperative Action Study

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common and critical diseases, worldwide. Various studies have been conducted to improve diabetes management. However, given the inadequacy of common methods for improving diabetes control, this qualitative study was performed to determine the effects of training optimization in adolescents for promoting diabetes control. In this cooperative, action study, 10 personnel from the diabetes clinic and 74 adolescents with diabetes mellitus and their families were enrolled. Overall, in-depth interviews (65-120 min) were conducted with seven personnel and 14 adolescents (and their families) in order to determine the prevalent problems. After identifying the problems, discussion meetings were held to design programs and decisions regarding educational programs, prioritized by the participants, were implemented in guided meetings. After the implementation of the program, 21 interviews were conducted and the differences before and after program implementation were evaluated. Furthermore, blood glucose and HbA1c levels were measured by paired t-test and qualitative analysis. By optimizing the training program, incorrect insulin injection, lack of knowledge about dietary habits, infrequent referral to hospital and lack of attention to blood sugar and HbA1c were corrected. Furthermore, changes in fasting blood glucose were measured in this study. In addition to qualitative changes, fasting glucose and HbA1C levels changed from 189±65.69 to 141.08±59.42 (P=0.002) and from 8.45±1.35 to 6.98±0.89 (P=0.0001), respectively. According to the obtained findings, training program optimization resulted in improvements in diabetes management in adolescents.