Effects of Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management Support Program in Khon San District, Chaiyaphum Province

Abstract

The objective of this quasi-experimental research with two-group pre- and post-tests design was to compare means of HbA₁C levels, knowledge, awareness and self-care behaviors regarding diabetes between before and after receiving self-care management promoting program for type 2 diabetic patients registered at Non Khun, Huai Yang, and Thung Luilai subdistricts in Khon San district, Chaiyaphum province. Samples included 100 type 2 diabetic patients with HbA₁C > 8%randomly selected from the registry with 50 patients randomly assigned for experimental and control groups. The program was conducted between 1 November 2020 - 31 January 2021. The questionnaire used to collect the data were consisted of 4 sections: general information, diabetes knowledge, health awareness, and self-care. The reliability of the questionnaire was 0.89. Other instruments included Instructional materials for diabetic patients, blood glucose meter and diabetic patient identification booklets. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-tests.

The results of the research were as follows: after completing the diabetes self-management support program, samples from the experimental group had significantly lower HbA1C levels, with higher diabetes knowledge and awareness scores (p<0.001). When analyzing samples’ knowledge in each section, it was found that samples from the experimental group had significantly higher knowledge scores on disease, symptoms, food, self-care in general and foot care than those in the control group It was found that the experimental group had more knowledge of disease and symptoms, diet and general health care and foot care than the control group with p=0.001, <0.001, 0.49, respectively). The experimental group also had significantly higher health awareness in expected outcomes of good behaviors and self-care in regular follow-ups than those from the control group (p= 0.004).

It is suggested to conduct follow-up study on drug intake, duration of illness and complications to better understand the results from this study. It is recommended to add knowledge on disease and symptoms, diet, general health care and foot care to develop appropriate self-management and increase patients’ regular follow-ups for continuing treatments.