Experiences of Self-management of Type I Diabetes in Adolescents: A Phenomenological Study

This study aimed to examine the concept of self-management of type I diabetes in adolescents.
This study used the Van Manen’s six-step hermeneutic phenomenological approach to examine the concept of self management of type-1 diabetes among Iranian adolescents, with the disorders Eight adolescents, aged 13-18 years, diagnosed with type I diabetes at least one year ago, were recruited. Mean age of the adolescents was 16 years, the mean duration of suffering was 3 years and 10 months and the mean length of interviews was 35 min, and 27 sec. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. After each interview, data were analyzed by the research team. Each interview was a guide for the next interview, the questions of which were changed based on the data obtained from the previous interview. Field notes were also used as an instrument to collect data.
This study extracted 7 themes, including productive interaction, self-efficacy achievement, self-regulation achievement, overcoming problems, future prospects and “diabetes, a part of life”, A theme not previously observed in other studies was maintaining appearances among these adolescents.
This study showed that Iranian adolescents with diabetes type 1 are eager to participate in self-care and self-management.