Issue 144 Item 7 Lack of Diabetes Patient Education Standardization Responsible

Physicians need to take a more active role. In an outpatient setting, patients remember or understand as little as half of what they are told by physicians. Consequently, it is recommended that physicians elicit comprehension of new concepts from patients and tailor subsequent provision of information to their needs, particularly for patients with low functional health literacy.

Patients’ recall or understanding of new concepts is, however, rarely assessed and this may reflect a missed opportunity that has important clinical implications. Responsiveness, defined as sensitivity to change over time, was examined using the Problem Areas In Diabetes (PAID) questionnaire. The results of the survey emphasized that lack of standardization is one of the main obstacles in quality-of-life research in diabetes. Diabetic Medicine, 20 (69-72)