Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between demographic, biological, and psychosocial characteristics of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) among people with diabetes.
Methods: A total of 933 adults with diabetes were invited to participate in the study. A self-administered survey was used to address the study objective. Adherence to SMBG was assessed by comparing the number of glucose tests performed by the patient with the number recommended by the healthcare provider. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship among the variables.
Results: Adherence to SMBG was 52%. Approximately one third of the participants (n = 213) could be categorized as adherent to SMBG. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that study participants with type 1 diabetes who experienced fewer environmental barriers (e.g., lifestyle interference, inconvenience, painfulness, and cost) were significantly more adherent to SMBG (P < .05).
Conclusions: Adherence to SMBG was suboptimal. The most significant factors that interfered with adherence were having type 2 diabetes and environmental barriers. Knowing the importance of these factors may assist diabetes educators and other healthcare professionals in identifying people at risk for low adherence to SMBG and potentially long-term health complications.