Comparison of patients' and healthcare professionals' beliefs about and attitudes towards Type 2 diabetes

Aims To compare patients' and healthcare professionals' beliefs and attitudes towards diabetes. Methods One hundred and four healthcare professionals (nurses, dieticians, general practitioners) and 100 of their patients with Type 2 diabetes completed the Diabetes Attitude Scale, 3rd version (DAS-3). Healthcare professionals also answered questions about their provision of diabetes care. Results Healthcare professionals viewed Type 2 diabetes as more serious than their patients. Most of the healthcare professionals considered diabetes harder to treat than other chronic conditions and felt that they did not have adequate time and resources to treat their diabetes patients effectively. Conclusions This study suggests that an important part of forming collaborative alliances with patients is to recognize the distinction between practitioner and patient perspectives in Type 2 diabetes.