Measuring the attitudes of patients towards diabetes and its treatment.

The following is a study of the general diabetes-related attitudes of 1202 patients with diabetes in Michigan. The instrument used to measure attitudes was a revised version of the Diabetes Attitude Scale (DAS) designed to measure the attitudes of health care professionals. A factor analysis of the revised DAS yielded seven diabetes attitude factors. These factors represented patients' attitude toward: (1) the need for special training in order to provide diabetes care; (2) patient compliance; (3) the seriousness of noninsulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM); (4) the relationship between blood glucose levels and complications; (5) the impact of diabetes on the patient's life; (6) patient autonomy; (7) team care. Overall, the respondents to this survey displayed attitudes consistent with the current recommendations of health care professionals in the field of diabetes. The revised DAS is an instrument that can be used to measure and compare the attitudes of both health care professionals and patients on a variety of diabetes-related issues.