Impacts of self-management education on glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objectives: Dietary and physical activity advice have been considered to be seminal ingredients in prevention and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this regard, the impacts of a three-month self-management intervention on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes were examined in the present study.

Study Design: A Double-arm post-test intervention study.

Methods: In the current post-test intervention study, three two-hour educational sessions on dietary habits and physical activity designed according to Health Belief Model were presented to 16 non-complicated type 2 diabetic patients and their dietary, physical activities, and biochemical outcomes were compared to a 23 patient-control arm in Iraq in 2017. The level of physical activity was measured through International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), dietary habits through UK Diabetes and Diet Questionnaire (UKDDQ), and biochemical indicators including HbA1c were measured after three months of program completion.

Results: The study showed that walking, taking vegetable, fruit, and bread were higher and taking full-fat cheese and full-fat spread was lower among experimental group significantly compared to control arm. In addition, the experimental group had a substantial higher albumin and lower urea, ALP-Phosphatase, and glucose levels in comparison with control patients. No substantial change was seen in HbA1C and no change in milk and fish products.

Conclusions: The substantial positive changes in physical activity, dietary habits, and some biochemical indicators were seen following intervention completion in the experimental arm.