Illness perceptions and self efficacy beliefs in adolescents and young adults with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus

TLDR

The study examined how illness perceptions and self‑efficacy influence regimen adherence and metabolic control in young insulin‑dependent diabetes patients. Sixty‑four IDDM outpatients completed questionnaires on illness perceptions, generalised and diabetes‑specific self‑efficacy, self‑reported adherence, and had HbA1c measured. Control, identity, and consequence perceptions correlated with self‑efficacy, and control beliefs accounted for 39 % of adherence variance while self‑efficacy, consequences, and identity explained 30.8 % of HbA1c variance, indicating that beliefs predict both behavioural and physiological outcomes. Keywords: diabetes adherence, metabolic control, self‑efficacy, illness perceptions.

Abstract

Abstract The study examined the role of illness perceptions and self-efficacy in diabetic regimen adherence and metabolic control among young patients with Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM). Sixty-four outpatients with Insulin Dependent Diabetes completed measures of illness perceptions, generalised and diabetes specific self-efficacy and a self-report measure of adherence. Metabolic control (HbAlc) was also assessed. Control, identity and consequences components of illness perceptions were significantly correlated with self-efficacy expectancies. Control beliefs were consistently associated with self-reported adherence across all treatment aspects and accounted for 39% of the predicted variance in total adherence. The associations of the other psychological predictors examined, varied depending on the regimen area. Multiple regression analysis showed that 30.8% of the variance in HbAlc assays was explained by patients' diabetes specific self-efficacy, consequences and identity. Our findings suggest that patients' beliefs are useful predictors of physiological and behavioural outcomes in diabetes self-management and should thus be the focus of routine clinical assessments and future interventions. Key Words: Diabetesadherencemetabolic controlself-efficacyillness perceptions.