This cross-sectional and quantitative study aimed to evaluate adherence among people with type-2 Diabetes Mellitus to self-care, regarding diet and physical exercises, as well as the relationship to socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. The sample consisted of 162 type-2 Diabetes Mellitus patients under outpatient clinic follow-up. Data was collected using the Brazilian version of the Summary of Diabetes Self-care Activities Questionnaire and patient files. Low adherence to self-care was evidenced in the studied sample. For p<0.05, correlation was inversely proportional to patient educational level, suggesting that the higher the educational level, the lower the adherence. There was no statistically significant correlation between adherence to self-care and gender, age, marital status, monthly per capita income, time of diagnosis, type of medication in treatment, and/or presence of complications/co-morbidities. Results corroborate findings in literature that socio-demographic and clinical variables may not predict adherence to treatment among people with Diabetes Mellitus..
Diabetes mellitus; Patient compliance; Nursing
