title: Relationship among social support, treatment adherence and metabolic control of diabetes mellitus patients.
abstract: This cross-sectional and quantitative study aimed to analyze the relationship among social support, adherence to non-pharmacological (diet and physical exercise) and pharmacological treatments (insulin and/or oral anti-diabetic medication) and clinical and metabolic control of 162 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Data were collected through instruments validated for Brazil. Social support was directly correlated with treatment adherence. Adherence to non-pharmacological treatment was inversely correlated with body mass index, and medication adherence was inversely correlated with diastolic blood pressure. There were no associations between social support and clinical and metabolic control variables. Findings indicate that social support can be useful to achieve treatment adherence. Studies with other designs should be developed to broaden the analysis of relations between social support and other variables.
authors.affiliation: Centro Universitário, Fundação Educacional Guaxupé, MG, Brazil. liliancristianegomes@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Lilian Cristiane
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Gomes-Villas Boas
authors.forename: Milton Cesar
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Foss
authors.forename: Maria Cristina Foss de
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: Ana Emília
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Pace
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012944:Social Support