Construction and validation of the Self-care Assessment Instrument for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: to construct and validate the contents of the Self-care Assessment instrument for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Method: methodological study, based on Orem's General Theory of Nursing. The empirical categories and the items of the instrument were elucidated through a focus group.

[Patients' knowledge of diabetes five years after the end of an educational program].

We present a cross-sectional study that aims to describe the sociodemographic and clinical conditions of individuals with diabetes mellitus and to analyze their knowledge of treatment five years after the end of an educational program in which they took part. In 2010, 40 individuals who had participated in a diabetes educational program for 12 months in 2005 at a primary care service were interviewed. A form was used for data collection that included their knowledge of the notion, physiopathology, and treatment of the disease; exercise; nutrition; foot care; self-monitoring of capillary blood glucose at home; hypoglycemia; chronic complications; special situations; and family support.

Knowledge of diabetic patients about their disease before and after implementing a diabetes education program.

The purpose of this quasi-experimental, prospective and comparative study is to evaluate the knowledge that diabetic patients have about their disease before and after implementing a Diabetes Education Program. Fifty-four diabetic patients participated in the study, which occurred from April 2004 to April 2005. Data collection was performed using a questionnaire.

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of a diabetic population at a primary level health care center.

This study aimed to analyze the social-demographic, clinical and life habits characteristics of a diabetic population being treated in the primary level of a healthcare center. A total of 52 diabetic patients, enrolled, in 2006, in a Research and Extension Center linked to a University in Sao Paulo, participated in the study. The data were collected through interviews, using appropriated forms, after the patients consent.

Satisfaction of diabetes patients under follow-up in a diabetes education program.

This study aimed to describe the satisfaction of diabetes patients, using the information received and the care offered after the implementation of the health educational program called Staged Diabetes Management (SDM), in April 2005, at a University Research and Extension Center in Ribeirão Preto - SP. Patient satisfaction was assessed through a satisfaction questionnaire, applied to 54 diabetes patients who participated in the program during 12 months. The patients reported that the information received during the program attended their needs; of the 54 patients, 59.

[Care according to diabetes patients and their main caregivers].

This case study aims to describe how diabetes patients and their main caregivers perceive the difficulties faced to control the disease. Data were collected through audio records made at the Nursing Education Center for Adults and Elderly in April 2003 and submitted to thematic content analysis. The following themes emerged from the analysis: dietary transgressions, medication-related problems and interpersonal influences.