Insulin injections: not as bad as people fear! – Meetings
Timely initiation and effective self-management of insulin therapy can be impaired by negative perceptions and attitudes among people with type 2 diabetes and their professional healthcare providers. The term ‘psychological insulin resistance’ has been used to describe this phenomenon.
A poster by William Polonsky et al from San Diego, USA, described a study in which 165 patients with non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetes completed a survey about their willingness to begin insulin therapy if necessary.
Of these, 43.8% reported that they were not willing or only slightly willing to do so. They feared that once started, insulin could never be stopped, that it would restrict their lives, that it would represent a failure on their part to control their disease and that it would be more painful.
However, a second poster by Soren Skovlund et at from Copenhagen, Denmark, showed that in a study of people already on insulin, only 6% feared the injections and only 28% thought it demanded a lot of time and energy.
Knowledge of this disparity between anticipated and actual patient experience might help people accept insulin injections when they are needed.
COPYRIGHT 2003 S.B. Communications
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
