Emotional distress and adherence to self-care activities in older adults with diabetes mellitus

Objective: to assess emotional distress and adherence to self-care activities in older adults with diabetes mellitus. Methods: cross-sectional study conducted with 75 elderly diabetics and using the instruments Problem Areas in Diabetes (Brazilian version) and Diabetes Self-Care Activity Questionnaire. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and the calculation of mean differences between groups using the Mann-Whitney test were used. Results: the elderly showed low emotional distress (mean score=29.86). Regarding self-care, lower adherence to blood glucose assessment and higher adherence to medication use according to recommendations. When comparing the groups, the elderly with severe emotional distress showed less adherence to the dimensions specific food (p=0.008) and foot care (p=0.014). Conclusion: most of the elderly showed low emotional distress and unsatisfactory adherence to diabetes self-care related to the dimensions specific diet, and foot care stood out among the elderly with severe emotional distress. Contributions to practice: to foster the process of comprehensive care to the elderly with diabetes mellitus, contributing to the clinical management and promotion of their emotional well-being, therapeutic adherence, self-care - especially - of specific feeding, foot care and quality of life.