RESUMO
The extent to which persons with diabetes mellitus derive satisfaction from their prescribed diets was investigated in patients attending Jamaican Government Health Centres. The design of the survey was two stage stratified sampling with the first stage being random selection of health centres. A questionnaire which elicited compliance and satisfaction with diet among other areas was administered to 331 diabetics, 20 years and over. Of the subjects interviewed, 81 percent were female and 19 percent were male. The majority of subjects were more than 40 years old. Most diabetics (83.5 percent) were on oral hypoglycaemic agents, 11 percent were taking insulin, and 5.5 percent were on no medication. Of the study subjects 54 percent reported general compliance with their prescribed diet while 45.9 percent did not comply. The most common reasons cited for non-compliance were that the foods were either too costly or unavailable. Only 4 percent of persons found their prescribed diet boring whilst 55 percent experienced hunger after eating and only 38 percent were always satisfied; 83 percent experienced hunger between meals. The results of this study showed that approximately half of the subjects complied with their diet, but there was significant dissatisfaction with the diet. (Au)