The population under investigation in this research project consists of young adults, ages 18 to 25, who have been diagnosed as having Type 1 Diabetes mellitus. Numerous studies in the literature of either an empirical or qualitative nature addressed issues related to the effects of the disease on this population and the types of interventions or lifestyle changes and behaviors that are known to facilitate health status improvements and quality of life maximization. This section of the study will examine those findings.
A study conducted by MacFarlane, Grove, and Wallymahmed (2001) examined changed in the prevalence of smoking in young adult diabetic patients between 1990 and 1999. Direct questioning as well as the urinary continine:creatinine ratio were used to assess the smoking habits of a sample of 99 young Type I diabetic patients in 1991. Subjects had a mean age of 21.5 years and an average duration of diabetes of 7.3 years. A sample of 112 similar patients in 1999 (mean age 23.4 years, duration of diabetes 9.6 years) was also drawn.
Results reported by MacFarlane, et al (2001) indicated that the admitted smoking rate was 21/99 (31 percent) in 1990 as compared with 31/112 (28 percent) in 1999. However, in 1990 there were additional covert smokers who denied smoking but whose urinary continine:creatinine ratio was high; there were only 3 subjects identified as smokers via this test in 1999. This gave a corrected validated smoking rate of 48/99 (48 percent) in 1990 and 34/112 (30 percent) in 1999, representing a significant decrease (p < 0.02). The authors concluded that smoking rates in younger patients with Type I diabetes appears to have fallen during the last decade, and that the reporting of smoking behaviors is more honest. This study supports the efficacy of educational programs designed to reduce smoking behavior among young adults with Type 1 diabetes; it could have been enhanced by a year-to-year stati...