Empowerment and Adherence to the Therapeutic Regimen in People with Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease responsible for complications, which not only limit individuals’ lives, but also contribute to a high level of morbidity and mortality. Thus, it is important to enable people to manage their therapeutic regimen appropriately. Promoting empowerment the individuals with diabetes is an enabling strategy which facilitates gains in health and quality of life.The aim of this study is to examine the relationship of demographic and clinical variables with adherence to therapeutic regimen in people with diabetes and determine the predictive effect of empowerment in the process of adherence.Most participants scored with high level of empowerment (38.7%). A positive and significant relationship between this and adherence to the therapeutic regimen was found; that is, the higher the level of empowerment, the greater the adherence.The results show that empowerment and the socio-demographic and clinical variables have a significant relationship with adherence to treatment regimen and should be considered when planning therapeutic interventions and clinical education for people with diabetes.