Abstract

Seventy-eight consecutive patients admitted to a community hospital for diabetic complications over a 1-yr period were interviewed in regard to circumstances resulting in their hospitalization. Based on this interview, patients were categorized as to the cause for admission into three groups: (1) educational deficits; (2) psycho-socio-economic deficits; and (3) unavoidable hospital admission. Twenty-seven percent of the patients had a specific educational deficit which was judged to be responsible for their hospitalization; an additional 20% of patients had combined education and psycho-socio-economic deficits accounting for their admission.