Management of insulin available by sus

Abstract

Objective: To describe management practices of insulin provided by the SUS and analyze the factors associated with insulin management mistakes. Method: Cross-sectional study addressing 113 individuals with Diabetes Mellitus from an outpatient clinic in Goiânia, GO, Brazil. Data concerning insulin storage, preparation, and administration were collected from the patients’ medical records and classified as appropriate or inappropriate. Results: 58.4% of participants were women aged 48 years old on average. Hypertension was reported by 70.8%, and glycated hemoglobin was ≥7% in 89.0%. All the patients made at least one insulin management mistake, and 62.8% made four or more mistakes. The most frequent mistakes were: storing insulin in non-recommended places (46.7%), not injecting insulin 30 minutes before meals (87.5%), not checking for the presence of lumps in the NPH insulin vial (71.9%), and not removing the insulin from the refrigerator between 15 and 30 minutes before injection (88.7%). No significant statistical differences were found among the exposure variables, though women, young individuals, those with 11 or more years of schooling, having the disease for more than ten years, and injecting insulin once or twice a day, more frequently made four or more management mistakes. Conclusion: A high prevalence of insulin management mistakes and considerable variability of practices were identified, reinforcing the importance of implementing a DM line of care at all healthcare system levels.