Prevalence and geographical distribution of insulin pump therapy in the Central Denmark Region and its association with metabolic parameters.

AIMS: Insulin treatment in type 1 diabetes encompasses multiple daily insulin injections (MDI) or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). Both population-based studies and comparative studies regarding CSII use are sparse. The aim of the current study was to describe the prevalence and distribution of CSII use among adults with type 1 diabetes in the Central Denmark Region and to compare metabolic control in CSII-treated patients to those treated with MDI. METHODS: A database was constructed using the Danish Adult Diabetes Registry in 2014/2015 in combination with an audit of the patients' medical records. RESULTS: 3909 adults with type 1 diabetes patients were included. The proportion of patients treated with CSII differed significantly between the 8 regional hospitals from 12.0% to 31.1%. CSII users had a significantly lower HbA1c compared to MDI treated patients (7.6% (60 mmol/mol) versus 8.0% (64 mmol/mol)) in unadjusted analyses. After adjustment for clinically relevant characteristics the difference between CSII and MDI-treated patients was attenuated, but remained statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The distribution of CSII differed markedly between hospitals and CSII users had better glycemic control, even after adjustment for sex, age, BMI, diabetes duration, smoking, use of lipid-lowering and blood pressure-lowering medication.

Independence/dependence--a contradictory relationship? Life with a chronic illness.

This study shows that self-responsibility and self-control are meaningful values in the activities and decisions of everyday life. Dignity and being respected as an individual are closely connected to being able to manage on one's own and being independent of others' help. The study also shows that including other people into one's life situation can be an important sign of self-management. However, the critical interpretation shows that it is the view of the human being which determines whether help from others and self-managing on one's own can be combined. With a relational view of the human being, i.e. the basic condition that people always enter into relations of dependence, there is no contradiction between independence and dependence. In contrast, an individualist, liberalist view of the human being promotes an attitude of blaming oneself with the potential for feelings of inadequacy and guilt. The study also shows that seeking out treatment in the alternative medical sector maintain a form of continued self-control and self-responsibility. The study concludes that the nurse must work to qualify her/his sensory-based, situationally determined attentiveness and her/his view of the human being, which will include directing her/his attention towards the patient's view of the human being, values and ways of relating to oneself and to one's choices. The research design is qualitative and takes a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. The data are based on interviews with 18 chronically ill patients, divided into three groups of six patients diagnosed with 'type I' diabetes, colitis ulcerosa and patients with coronary occlusion in the rehabilitation phase. Regardless of the diagnosis, the objective of the interview study was to highlight themes in the patients' views of health and illness related to their chronic condition and the significance of these views have for their mastery of everyday life. The research method is inspired by Paul Ricoeur.

Achieving harmony with oneself: life with a chronic illness.

This paper presents partial findings of a larger research project focusing on what it means to live with a chronic illness. Getting in harmony with oneself is a movement towards, and a form of, acceptance of the chronic suffering and disease. Some patients achieve this level of acceptance, while for others the obstacles of everyday life make this movement towards acceptance difficult. Achieving harmony with oneself is conditioned by the existence of hope and spirit of life/life courage and by the pressure of doubts on this hope. Doubts can shake this hope so that instead of moving towards acceptance, the patient drifts towards hopelessness and despair. The research design is qualitative and uses a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. A total of 18 patients were interviewed, divided into three groups of six patients diagnosed with 'type I' diabetes, colitis ulcerosa and patients with coronary occlusion in the rehabilitation phase. The goal of the research was to derive patterns/themes common to the three diagnosed groups regarding the patients' view of health and disease in connection with chronic illness and to elucidate the significance of this view for how the patients coped with everyday life. The research method is inspired by Paul Ricoeur.