ABSTRACT
Illness perception affects patients' behavior, compliance, self-management and consequences of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the illness perception and its relation to treatment response in the patients with diabetes mellitus in Tohid Hospital. In this descriptive-analytical study, 200 diabetic patients were randomly selected. The illness perception data were obtained using IPQ questionnaire, and other variables including HbA1C were extracted from the patients' records. Collected data were entered into SPSS software and analyzed by means of Mann-Whitney U and Spearman correlation coefficient statistical tests. p<0.05 was considered significant. 39 patients [19.5%] were male and 161 [80.5%] were female, with a mean age and standard deviation [SD] of 12.83 +/- 53.25. Mean value of the patients' blood sugar was 7.6 +/- 1.6 mg dl. 46.6% of the patients had perception of disease duration and 62% of patients had good control of blood sugar level. Gender and illness perception showed no relationship [p> 0.05]. But a relationship was found between illness perception and blood sugar levels [p<0.01]. This study indicated a significant relationship between illness perception and control of blood sugar. Therefore it is necessary to improve illness perception by education and consultation which results in better control of blood sugar by the patients and decreased complications of diabetes mellitus