Effective intervention of self-care on glycaemia control in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Diabetes is one of the most common diseases, which requires lifelong self-care to improve the quality of life.

Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the impact of self-care education programs on reducing HbA1c in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Patients and methods: The current experimental study was conducted on 138 female patients with type 2 diabetes in Zahedan city, Iran. The data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire which included items on demographics, awareness, beliefs, Self-care behaviors. Before the educational intervention, the (HbA1c) test check list was completed for the patients in both groups. Then the training was applied for the intervention group in five 60-minute educational sessions within one month. Three months following the training, the data collection based on the check list was repeated for both groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.

Results: The mean scores of awareness, beliefs, Self-care behaviors of the educational group, were 46.6 ± 8.57, 46.5 ± 0.86 and 29.06 ± 10.02, respectively; and it was found that after the education, knowledge, attitude, and self-care scores increased significantly (P < 0.001 Before the training, the scores of self-care, beliefs, and awareness were less than average in the intervention and control groups. In addition, the levels of HbA1c in the patients were higher than the normal levels. Following the intervention, the mean of self-care and HbA1c of the intervention group significantly reduced as compared with those of the control group (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Self-care training instructions led to improve knowledge, attitude, and performance of the subjects under study and also the average HbA1c. Therefore, the nurses and health care staff should be educated accordingly.