Intervention Effect Based on Self-Regulation to Promote the Continuation of Self-Care Behavior of Patients with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of a support program based on self-regulation. [Methods] Participants: Patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus in rural areas; Research design: Quasi-experimental research. A t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were performed to compare the intervention and control groups before the intervention. For the comparison within the groups before and after the interventions, a t-test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were performed. For statistical analysis, the significance level was set to 5%. [Results] The intervention group included 19 participants (age 59.8 ± 6.14) and 10 participants in the control group (age 64.3 ± 3.95). After the program, the scores in knowledge about diabetes ( p = 0.001) and sub-items of the diabetes self-management (foot care) ( p = 0.048) of the intervention group statistically significantly increased, and the calorie intake decreased ( p = 0.080). The intervention group had higher scores in all three sub items of the self-efficacy (positiveness, control, and total score). There were no statistically significant differences in the changes in BMI, HbA 1 c, and the subscales of self-efficacy between the two groups. However, the scores of these items of the intervention and control groups were 3.3 and 2.9, 2.2 and − 0.3, and 5.5 and 2.6, respectively. [Conclusions] The support program based on self-regulation in this study helped the participants to acquire general knowledge of diabetes to assess own medical condition and problems in self-care behavior and practical knowledge to manage diabetes in daily life, and this shows the effectiveness of the program.