Self-care practices among diabetes patients registered in a chronic disease clinic in Puducherry, South India

Abstract

Background: In management of diabetes, self-care plays an important role in prevention of complications. This study aims to find the proportion of diabetic patients following the recommended self-care practices in an urban area of Puducherry. Materials and Methods: Consecutive eligible patients registered in chronic disease clinic were interviewed using Summary of Diabetes Self Care Activities Score (SDSCA) questionnaire. Self-care practices were evaluated in domains of diet, physical activity, foot-care, adherence to medications and blood glucose monitoring. All domains were scored from the range of 0 to 7. Results: Totally 162 diabetic patients were interviewed. The mean (SD) age of participants was 57 (11.1) yrs. Among all domains, adherence to medication was the highest (95.6 %) followed by avoidance of selected food items (99.4%). Almost 78% of patients had their blood sugar checked at least once in the last three months. Only half of them (50.6%) had followed at least 20 minutes of leisure time physical activity. Except washing of foot (83.3%) all other foot care practices were less commonly (35-57%) followed. Conclusion: The study shows that higher level of compliance to self-care practices in terms of taking drugs and diet but self-care in other domains such as foot care is alarmingly low.

Compliance - diabetes - diabetes self care - diabetic foot care - summary of diabetes self-care activities (SDSCA) score

• References

• 1 World Diabetes Atlas. 2013. International Diabetes Federation (IDF). 6th ed.. Available from: http://www.idf.org/sites/default/files/EN_6E_Atlas_Full_0.pdf [Last accessed on 2014 Jun 15].
• 2 Sosale A, Prasanna KumarKM, Sadikot SM, Nigam A, Bajaj S, Zargar AH. et al. Chronic complications in newly diagnosed patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in India. Indian J Endocrinol Metab 2014; 18: 355-360
• 3 Vanstone M, Giacomini M, Smith A, Brundisini F, DeJean D, Winsor S. How diet modification challenges are magnified in vulnerable or marginalized people with diabetes and heart disease: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis. Ont Health Technol Assess Ser 2013; 13: 1-40
• 4 Al-Maskari F, El-Sadig M, Al-Kaabi JM, Afandi B, Nagelkerke N, Yeatts KB. Knowledge, attitude and practices of diabetic patients in the United Arab Emirates. PloS One 2013; 8: e52857
• 5 Saleh F, Mumu SJ, Ara F, Begum HA, Ali L. Knowledge and self-care practices regarding diabetes among newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics in Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 2012; 12: 1112
• 6 Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Role of self-care in management of diabetes mellitus. J Diabetes Metab Disord 2013; 12: 14
• 7 Gopichandran V, Lyndon S, Angel MK, Manayalil BP, Blessy KR, Alex RG. et al. Diabetes self-care activities: A community-based survey in urban southern India. Natl Med J India 2012; 25: 14-17
• 8 Marques MB, da Silva MJ, Coutinho JF, Lopes MV. Assessment of self-care competence of elderly people with diabetes. Rev Esc Enferm USP 2013; 47: 415-420
• 9 Toobert DJ, Hampson SE, Glasgow RE. The summary of diabetes self-care activities measure: Results from 7 studies and a revised scale. Diabetes Care 2000; 23: 943-950
• 10 Sasi ST, Kodali M, Burra KC, Muppala BS, Gutta P, Bethanbhatla MK. Self care activities, diabetic distress and other factors which affected the glycaemic control in a tertiary care teaching hospital in south India. J Clin Diagn Res 2013; 7: 857-860
• 11 Schiøtz M, Strandberg-Larsen M, Frølich A, Krasnik A, Bellows J, Kristensen JK. et al. Self-management support to people with type 2 diabetes-a comparative study of Kaiser Permanente and the Danish Healthcare System. BMC Health Serv Res 2012; 12: 160