[The challenge of caring for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes at home]. / O desafio para o controle domiciliar em crianças e adolescentes diabéticas tipo 1.

This is a descriptive study concerning mothers of children and adolescents with type-1 diabetes. Its purpose is to identify available resources and analyze the difficulties that these mothers find to control the disease at home. To that end, direct interviews were used and the results enabled us to reach the following conclusions: the resources used for the control of diabetes at home are scarce and, when available, they are not handled adequately; communication between mothers and the health care team was limited. The results also pointed to the need for equity in the assistance to families of children and adolescents with type-1 diabetes by providing support for such families to manage children with chronic diseases.

[Reutilization of disposable syringes: frequency and costs for the administration of insulin at home]. / Reutilização de seringas descartáveis: freqüência e custos para administração de insulina no domicílio.

The present survey has the purpose to analyze the frequency and costs of the re-utilization of disposable syringes for insulin administration at home. One hundred and thirteen patients with diabetes assisted by a public hospital in a city in the interior São Paulo State, Brazil, were interviewed. The findings showed that regarding the studied population, the frequency of needles re-utilization varied from 1 to 20 times, and syringes re-utilization from 1 to 60 times. The greatest frequencies in the use of the same syringe or needle were of four times followed by three times. Re-utilizing the same syringe four times resulted in a cost reduction of 74.68%. The results pointed out the need for a legislation review as well as for new studies on the risks and benefits arising from this practice.