Association of stress management behavior and diabetic self-care practice among diabetes type II patients in North Shoa Zone: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The cornerstone of diabetes management is the self-care behavior of diabetics. However, many people with diabetes do not fully engage in these activities. Effective stress management behaviors have a positive impact on diabetes self-care. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-care behaviors in people with diabetes and stress coping behaviors in people with type II diabetes.

Method: A facility-based cross-sectional study was undertaken in the North Shoa zone from March 2 to 29, 2022. The study involved 432 types II diabetic patients who were chosen at random from eight public hospitals. Eight item stress coping techniques tools was used to measure stress management behavior. Data were entered into Epi Data V.3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Data for continuous variables were reported as means and standard deviations and percentages for categorical variables. Descriptive statistic was used to summarize study variables. Binary logistic regression models were used to assess associations between sociodemographic variables, stress-coping behaviors, and self-care behaviors. Binary logistic regression model was used investigate the association between diabetic self-care behaviors and stress-coping behaviors. A p-value ≤ 0.05 and an OR with a 95% CI are considered statistically significant associations.

Result: the study showed that stress management behavior was observed in more than half of the patients (51.2; 95% CI; (46.5, 55.6). The study found that stress management behavior was associated with diabetic self-care practice (X2, 17.7; p < 0.0001). Patients with good stress management behavior (AOR = 2.0, 95% CI = (1.3, 3.0)), good perception (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI = (1.5, 3.4)), and family support (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI = (1.5, 3.6)) were more likely to conduct diabetes self-care.

Conclusion: This study shows that stress management behaviors and coping techniques are associated with self-care behavior and lead to significant improvements in diabetes self-care practices. Stress management and coping skills should be included in current systems as a common therapeutic service/treatment. Diabetes care practitioners should consider these factors when discussing diabetes self-management during consultations.