Shalom R
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
J Am Coll Health. 1991 May;39(6):277-9. doi: 10.1080/07448481.1991.9936245.
College students with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus often ignore the care of their illness. Faced with managing this illness independently for the first time, they lack the knowledge and experience to do so effectively. Their need to establish autonomy often prevents them from seeking the advice of health professionals. In view of this, the author undertook a pilot study to investigate the role of a peer support group on a college campus as a means of improving the diabetic students' management of their illness. Three closed-membership groups met for 10 weekly sessions. Hemoglobin A1c (the measure of average blood sugar over the preceding 3-month interval) determinations prior to participation in the group ranged from 4.0 to 11.7, with a mean of 8.16; after participation in the group, the mean hemoglobin A1c levels of group members dropped to 6.10 (p less than .001). (Hemoglobin A1c measures lower than 6.2 reflect physiologic blood sugar measures of someone without diabetes.) These results suggest that the peer-group approach may be a viable way to improve the metabolic control of young adults with diabetes at the time in their lives when they are learning to manage their illness independently.
患有胰岛素依赖型糖尿病的大学生常常忽视自身疾病的护理。首次面临独立管理这种疾病时，他们缺乏有效管理疾病所需的知识和经验。他们对建立自主性的需求常常使他们不愿寻求健康专家的建议。鉴于此，作者开展了一项试点研究，以调查大学校园里同伴支持小组作为改善糖尿病学生疾病管理方式的作用。三个封闭式成员小组每周会面一次，共进行10次。参与小组之前，血红蛋白A1c（前三个月平均血糖水平的指标）测定值在4.0至11.7之间，平均为8.16；参与小组之后，小组成员的血红蛋白A1c平均水平降至6.10（p小于0.001）。（血红蛋白A1c水平低于6.2反映了非糖尿病患者的生理血糖水平。）这些结果表明，同伴小组方法可能是改善糖尿病青年在学会独立管理疾病时期代谢控制的一种可行方法。
