Diabetes mellitus involves long-term complications that affect diabetic patients' quality of life. The best way to prevent these complications is that patients achieve good metabolic control. In order to reach this goal, patients are requested to acquire daily behaviours (self-care). Such behaviours are sometimes hard to adhere, because they require changes in habits acquired over time. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the improvement on self-care after a pharmaceutical intervention on home regime patients. We performed a controlled experimental comparative study with a follow up of 6 months, on 87 patients, randomized in control group (n=43) and intervention group (n=44). We accessed sociodemographic and clinical data (glycaemic profile), as well as adherence to drug therapy and self-assessed care (before/after). In the intervention group, mean age was 74.2±5.4 years, and the median time of T2DM diagnosis was 14.7±8.5 years. At the end of study, the decrease in fasting blood glucose was higher in the intervention group patients than that observed in the control group (50.2mg/dL), with statistically significant difference (p<0.05), as well as the decrease verified in HbA1c. In self-care adherence, alterations in the levels of adherence of the general nutrition and physical exercise dimensions became evident, with an increase in the number of days of adherence. On medication adherence statistically significant alterations (p<0.05) were also recorded. We can conclude that an individualized pharmaceutical intervention can improve self-care behaviours, as well as medication adherence, contributing to better metabolic control.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes patients' adherence to pharmacotherapy is higher than adherence to nutritional therapy or lifestyle change behaviours, and patients do not value nutritional therapy in the same level as they value other types of interventions. This study aimed to analyse the value that T2DM patients place on nutritional therapy and to identify perceived barriers to nutritional therapy adherence. Methods: A non-random sample of 62 patients receiving health care in a Diabetes Clinic in the municipality of Faro, in the Portuguese region of the Algarve, was interviewed with a semi-structured protocol regarding sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, physical activity, and dietary habits. Additional data were collected from the patient's clinical files and by conducting anthropometric assessment using standard methods.

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