The personal factor of the caretaker and the ability to control the blood sugar levels of elderly patients in Long Term Care, Kalasin Province

Abstract

Background : The World Health Organization reports that there are currently 415 million people with diabetes. Every 6 seconds, there is a death from diabetes. In 2013, Thailand had an average of 27 diabetes deaths per day.  Thailand will be an aging society in 2040, with 20.5 million elderly people expected. Of these, 3.06 million people have diabetes. These elderly patients must have children as carers in conjunction with the Long-Term Care Fund for elderly people with dependency. (Long Term Care: LTC) Therefore, caregiver (CG) is of great importance to the health of the elderly.

Methodology : This’s a  cross-sectional analysis study to study the relationship of the personal factors of elderly caregivers to the ability to control blood glucose levels of diabetics in Kalasin's Long Term Care Fund (LTC) from a sample of 692 patients. Analyzing statistical data by descriptive statistics and inference statistics by chi-squared tests, odd ratio and 95%, CI set the statistical priority at 0.05.

Results : Factors affecting the ability to control blood glucose levels of diabetics in the Long Term Care Fund for elderly people with dependence (LTC) in Kalasin province at a statistical priority of 0.05. Is to gain knowledge about diabetes of elderly caregivers. Knowledge from community hospitals has a 5x effect, and social media knowledge has 0.18 times the effect.( OR=5.53,p-value=0.005 และ =7.89,OR=0.18,p-value=0.005)

Suggestions: The relevant authorities should organize activities to promote diabetes knowledge to patients and caregivers with appropriate media that will affect the ability to control blood glucose levels of diabetics to the appropriate criteria.