Adherence Linked to Glycemic Control in Youth With Diabetes

Meta-analysis supports current guidelines where this had been assumed

MONDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Greater adherence to treatment is associated with better glycemic control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes, supporting current guidelines where this had been implicitly assumed, according to a review published online Nov. 2 in Pediatrics.

Korey K. Hood, Ph.D., from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues identified and performed a meta-analysis of 21 studies, including 2,492 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes, examining the association between treatment adherence and glycemic control.

The researchers found that the mean effect size was −0.28. Hemoglobin A1c values decreased with increasing adherence. However, the association between adherence and glycemic control could not be correlated with sociodemographic or disease characteristics.

"The results of this meta-analysis show that adherence is linked with glycemic outcomes in pediatric type 1 diabetes," Hood and colleagues conclude. "Adherence promotion should be considered alongside glycemic control improvements as a primary outcome or end point and much more attention should be paid to developing and refining clinic-based interventions to promote adherence."

Abstract
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Last Updated: November 02, 2009

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