Diabetes Attitude Scale – Third Version (DAS-3)

Health care professionals who treat people with diabetes should be trained to communicate well with their patients.

People who do not need to take insulin to treat their diabetes have a pretty mild disease.

There is not much use in trying to have good blood sugar control because the complications of diabetes will happen anyway.

Diabetes affects almost every part of a diabetic person’s life.

The important decisions regarding daily diabetes care should be made by the person with diabetes.

Health care professionals should be taught how daily diabetes care affects patients’ lives.

Older people with Type 2 diabetes do not usually get complications.

Keeping the blood sugar close to normal can help to prevent the complications of diabetes.

Health care professionals should help patients make informed choices about their care plans.

It is important for the nurses and dietitians who teach people with diabetes to learn counseling skills.

People whose diabetes is treated by just a diet do not have to worry about getting many long-term complications.

Almost everyone with diabetes should do whatever it takes to keep their blood sugar close to normal.

The emotional effects of diabetes are pretty small.

People with diabetes should have the final say in setting their blood glucose goals.

Blood sugar testing is not needed for people with Type 2 diabetes.

Low blood sugar reactions make tight control too risky for most people.

Health care professionals should learn how to set goals with patients, not just tell them what to do.

Diabetes is hard because you never get a break from it.

The person with diabetes is the most important member of the diabetes care team.

To do a good job, diabetes educators should learn a lot about being teachers.

Type 2 diabetes is a very serious disease.

Having diabetes changes a person’s outlook on life.

People who have Type 2 diabetes will probably not get much payoff from tight control of their blood sugars.

People with diabetes should learn a lot about the disease so that they can be in charge of their own diabetes care.

Type 2 is as serious as Type 1 diabetes.

Tight control is too much work.

What the patient does has more effect on the outcome of diabetes care than anything a health professional does.

Tight control of blood sugar makes sense only for people with Type 1 diabetes.

It is frustrating for people with diabetes to take care of their disease.

People with diabetes have a right to decide how hard they will work to control their blood sugar.

People who take diabetes pills should be as concerned about their blood sugar as people who take insulin.

People with diabetes have the right not to take good care of their diabetes.

Support from family and friends is important in dealing with diabetes.