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Problem solving and diabetes self-care

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Abstract

An important objective of diabetes care is to provide patients with self-regulation skills. For patients to assume responsibility for their own regimens, they need to have good problem-solving skills to cope with ongoing personal, social, and environmental barriers to adherence. Therefore, a Diabetes Problem Solving Interview for adults was developed and evaluated with 126 non-insulin-dependent outpatients. Interviewers elicited problem-solving strategies patients would use to cope with a variety of situations potentially interfering with dietary, exercise, and glucose testing adherence. Interviews were tape recorded and coded by trained raters to produce scores on both overall problem-solving skill ratings and frequency of use of different types of strategies. Results revealed only minor influences of patient characteristics on problem-solving measures. Prospective analyses revealed that problem-solving measures were significant and independent predictors of levels of dietary and exercise self-care at a 6-month follow-up.

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This research was supported by Grant DK 35524 from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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Toobert, D.J., Glasgow, R.E. Problem solving and diabetes self-care. J Behav Med 14, 71–86 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844769

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