13^th Global Diabetes Conference & Medicare Expo

Biography

Biography: Yafi Michael

Abstract

Noncompliance with recommended self-care is a principal reason for suboptimal glycemic control and increased morbidity in adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus. A number of studies have looked at interventions to improve compliance. The results have been disappointing, but it does appear that approaches which directly address emotional, social, and family dysfunction are more effective than those which reinforce technical education. We selected a population of poorly controlled adolescents in the endocrinology clinics of the University of Texas – Houston and attempted to identify factors leading to noncompliance, and to evaluate the relative effectiveness of two extant interventions, one technical and one psychosocial. Non- compliant adolescents were more often socially disadvantaged, and both the technical and the psychosocial interventions seemed effective for the patients who used them, though neither improvement was statistically significant