Background:

type 1 Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease increasingly prevalent in children, thus it is essential to encourage adherence to self-care and minimize the difficulties experienced.

Objectives:

characterize the knowledge of adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus about their disease and identify their difficulties in self-care.

Methodology:

quantitative, simple descriptive study. Application of Knowledge Test of Adolescents with DM1 about the disease and the Inventory of Difficulties in Self-Care Roles by Flora & Gameiro (2016). Data collected between june and november 2021 at Diabetes Consultation of a Hospital in the central region of Portugal. Sample of 34 diabetic adolescents with a mean age of 14.9 (±2.3) years.

Results:

in overall knowledge, adolescents show a level of knowledge between reasonable and good, and it is in domain 1 (Nature of the disease/physiopathology) where they show the best level of knowledge. In the difficulties in the self-care roles, they show higher percentages of difficulty in maintaining a balanced diet, fighting stress and interventions when facing hypoglycemia.

Conclusion:

adolescents have difficulties in self-care roles, and the nurses' intervention in the implementation of adjusted therapeutic plans is essential to overcome the knowledge gaps and reduce the identified difficulties.