Diabetic Compliance

Diabetics accounted for approximately 7.8 percent of the U.S. population as of 2007, according to the American Diabetes Association. Doctors urge their patients to become and remain compliant with their diabetic treatment regimens. While it is far from an easy journey, compliance requires dedication and a decision to consider the future.

Identification

• Diabetic compliance means the patient with diabetes strictly adheres to her doctor's orders. If the doctor gives her a specific diet, she sticks to it. She gets the recommended amount of exercise. She tests her blood glucose readings at the times she is asked to check them. The patient refills and takes her diabetes medications or injects insulin at times when it is prescribed.

Approach

• There is a push in the medical field to get away from using the term "compliance" when it comes to chronic diseases such as diabetes. In the Journal of the American Medical Association, Martha Mitchell Funnell, M.S., R.N., C.D.E., and colleagues explain the need for a new approach. They say that doctors would be more successful with their patients if they took the approach that patients are in charge of their own treatment rather than complying with a treatment imposed on them by a doctor. The doctor asks the patient what he wants to accomplish for himself as a person with diabetes, and the doctor helps him achieve his goals.

Effects

• Diabetic compliance can help the patient prevent kidney disease. Compliance can help the patient avoid diabetic neuropathy, a condition where certain parts of the body, especially the feet, become numb or tingly. Diabetic retinopathy, an eye condition related to high blood sugar, can be related to noncompliance. Heart disease, says the American Diabetes Association, affects two out of every three people with diabetes. Compliance has the effect of minimizing all these risks.

Research

• People with diabetes responded well to social support and friendly reminders to exercise and follow other matters of compliance. According to a May 18, 2010, article in the Wall Street Journal, a Stanford research study showed that patients who got encouraging phone calls and gentle reminder emails improved their level of exercise dramatically.

Warning

• Diabetic compliance may be difficult for many people. As L. Pendleton and colleagues explain in a 1987 Public Health Reports article, the diabetic may not see any significant differences until he has been noncompliant for years. The patient who has diabetes may have major complications before realizing just how important his diet, exercising and medication routines are to his health. Since the diabetic regimens are often rather complex, many patients do not comply.