This quantitative, cross-sectional survey of 227 young people with Type 1 diabetes identified factors that influence lack of engagement of young adults with Type 1 diabetes (aged 13–21 years) with structured diabetes education.
The five most common cited reasons identified for non-attendance were ‘Had other things to do’ (68.3%), ‘No time’ (62.2%), ‘Could not get time off school/college or work’ (60.8%), ‘Learnt about diabetes from other sources’ (55.5%) and ‘Feel able to cope on own’ (52.9%).
The study concluded that greater emphasis is required on communication with young people about the benefits of structured diabetes education. In addition, efforts need to be directed to making diabetes education more accessible without losing the quality of structured programmes.
