A Study on Assessment of Level of Self-Care Practices among Known Type 2 Diabetes Patients in Rural Field Practice Area of South India

Background: Self-care in diabetes has been defined as an evolutionary process of development of knowledge or awareness by learning to survive with the complex nature of the diabetes in a social context. Methodology: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted with the objective to assess the level of self-care among known type-2 diabetes patients in rural field practice area. A total of 727 patients were involved and predesigned, pretested and semi structured questionnaire developed by referring the Summary of diabetes self-care activities measure (SDSCA), Diabetes self-management questionnaire (DSMQ) and patient health questionnaire-2 was used for the study. Data entry was made in Microsoft excel and analysis was done using the SPSS statistics 20.0 version. Results were expressed in proportions and percentages and appropriate statistical tests was applied to see the association. Results: A total of 727 known diabetes patients were participated, out of which 298 (40.9%) were males and 429 (59.1%) were females. With respect to self-care activities variables in diet modification except intake of fried foods, binge eating and skipping of the meals, good physical activity, drug adherence and some variables in problem solving are having good influence over glycemic control with P value <0.05. Frequency of glucose monitoring, variables in risk reduction except stopping smoking and alcohol and healthy coping were not influencing the glucose levels and it was not significant statistically. Conclusion: Self-care activities such as eating green leafy vegetables and fruits frequently, occasional consumption of meat, strict restriction of sweets and consuming salt restricted diet will have positive influence over glycemic control.