title: [Assessment of self-care competence of elderly people with diabetes].
abstract: This descriptive, cross-sectional and correlational study aimed to assess the self-care competencies of senior citizens with diabetes using the Scale to Identify Diabetes Mellitus Patients' Competence for Self-Care and personal factors associated with it. The study population consisted of seniors registered in primary healthcare units in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. Only 6% of the patients were considered to have diabetes self-care competence. Low educational level and decreased visual acuity were identified as factors that influenced these low scores. The results, which showed that a small number of seniors were considered competent to practice self-care, indicated the importance of developing health promotion activities targeted to this population, assessing skills and encouraging self-care practices to facilitate the planning of health interventions.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Piauí. Fortaleza, Brasil. marilia@ufpi.edu.br
authors.forename: Marília Braga
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Maria Josefina
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Janaína Fonseca Victor
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.forename: Marcos Venícios de Oliveira
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Lopes
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012648:Self Care