Impact of Cognitive Impairment on Adherence to Treatment and Self-Care in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

• Main Authors: Świątoniowska-Lonc N, Polański J, Tański W, Jankowska-Polańska B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2021-01-01
• Series: Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity : Targets and Therapy
• Subjects: adherence; diabetes; cognitive impairment; self-care
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/impact-of-cognitive-impairment-on-adherence-to-treatment-and-self-care-peer-reviewed-article-DMSO

Natalia Świątoniowska-Lonc,1 Jacek Polański,2 Wojciech Tański,3 Beata Jankowska-Polańska1 1Department of Clinical Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland; 2Department of Internal Diseases, Occupational Medicine, Hypertension and Clinical Oncology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland; 3Department of Internal Medicine, 4th Military Teaching Hospital, Wroclaw, PolandCorrespondence: Beata Jankowska-PolańskaDepartment of Clinical Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University, K. Bartla 5, Wroclaw 51-616, PolandTel [phone]Fax [phone]Email [e-mail]: Elderly patients with diabetes have a significantly increased prevalence of mild cognitive impairment compared with people of similar age without diabetes. Tasks related to diabetes self-management involve multiple cognitive skills and processes, such as memory, attention, planning, and calculating. Impaired cognitive function can threaten the patient’s ability to perform self-monitoring. The objectives of the study were: to assess cognitive deficits and the level of self-care in elderly patients with diabetes, to identify correlations between cognitive deficits and self-care, and to determine which variables influence self-care behaviors and cognitive deficits.Methods: The study involved 169 patients with type 2 DM. Standardized tools were used: Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) to assess cognitive function and the Self-Care of Diabetes Inventory (SCODI) to assess the level of self-care. Socioclinical data were taken from the hospital records.Results: 56.8% of patients had cognitive impairment (MMSE≤ 26). In the comparative analysis, patients with cognitive impairment had significantly lower results in all domains of the SCODI: self-care maintenance (72.9 vs 75), self-care monitoring (53.1 vs 56.3), self-care management (71.9 vs 84.4), self-care confidence (79.5 vs 86.4). Correlation analysis showed that the MMSE score correlates significantly and positively (p˂0.05; r˃0) with all SCODI subscales, and the higher the MMSE score the higher the level of self-care (A: r=0.252, B: r=0.244, C: r=0.019, D: r=0.28).Conclusion: In this elderly type 2 diabetes population, and using only one test to verify the cognitive function, self-care management was worse in terms of self-care management (blood glucose control). Cognitive function components are independent determinants of self-care in patients with type 2 diabetes. Recall is an independent predictor of self-care maintenance, and writing a predictor of self-care monitoring.Keywords: adherence, diabetes, cognitive impairment, self-care