The study on the mistakes of individuals with diabetes mellitus related to self-injecting insulin

In diabetes, insulin is injected as a way of treatment in order to enable the control of blood glucose. It is injected under the skin except for emergency cases and requires special information and skill while applying. When not applied properly, the insulin treatment applied for ensuring the control of blood glucose can lead the patient to develop lipohypertrophy, hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia. Therefore, the application mistakes of individuals with diabetes metillus who are injecting insulin to themselves were assessed in this studyThe study is a definining study. The sampling of the research involved 80 patients treated in internal clinics of the University Hospital. The data related to the research were collected through questionnaire and observation. Evaluation of data was used to calculate the number and percentage.As a result of the research, it was observed that among the individuals with diabetes, %68 of them did not wash their hands before injection; %55 did not check the function of the pen; %87.5 did not make site control; %72.5 did not hold the pen properly in order to see the dosage indicator and not press their thumbs on the button freely; %61.5 could not hold the skin through thumb and forefinger; %61.5 stopped holding the skin in the course of injection and before removing the needle; %71.2 did not leave a distance of 2-3 cm between two injections; and %85 of them did not make site rotation.As a result of the research, it was determined that the patients injecting insulin themselves made mistakes on different scales. It is important that the reasons for such mistakes should be studied and the proper approaches should be ensured in order to reduce the rate of mistakes.Key Words: Insulin, self-injecting insulin, mistakes in insulin application