The effect of diabetes education on self-management and full control of the disease in persons diagnosed with type 2 diabetes: the case of Adana

Objective: The incidence of Diabetes Mellitus is increasing rapidly. The aim of our study is to determine the effect of diabetes education to be given to a randomly selected group of people with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Adana on the self-management and full control of the disease. Materials and Methods: This study, which was planned as an intervention type, was conducted with 59 individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus between the ages of 20 and 65, registered in two family medicine units serving in the Beyazevler and Akıncılar neighborhoods of Adana province. A questionnaire and self-management scale were filled in face-to-face interviews with individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus invited to the FHC; Anthropometric measurements and metabolic parameters were recorded. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control group and diabetes education was given to the experimental group. At the end of three months, the participants were invited to the FHC again and the process was repeated. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 23.0 program and Independent T, Paired T, Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon, Chi-Square, Mcnemar, Correlation and Logistic Regression Tests were used in the analysis. Results: 67.7% of the experimental group and 82.1% of the control group were women. The mean age of the experimental group was 54.45±7.49, and that of the control group was 54.39±7.26. The participants were initially compared for the development of complications, and the HbA1C, total cholesterol, triglycerides, total cholesterol/HDL and TyG index averages of the group that developed complications were found to be significantly higher. At the end of three months, in the experimental group, weight 2.1% (medium effect size), waist circumference 1.21% (medium effect size), BMI 2.35% (medium effect size), HbA1C 8.82% (medium effect size), triglyceride 12.57% (close to medium effect size), a significant decrease of 2.5% (close to medium effect size) was achieved in the TyG index. A decrease of 0.73% was achieved in HbA1C. There was no significant change in anthropometric measurement and metabolic parameters in the control group at the end of three months. At the end of three months in the experimental group, 17.62% (large effect size) in the 1st sub-dimension, 13.05% (medium effect size) in the 2nd sub-dimension, 35.84% (large effect size) in the 3rd sub-dimension, and 19.35% (large effect size) in the DSS total scores significantly increased. Conclusion: Metabolic control parameters (weight, waist circumference, BMI, HbA1C, triglyceride and TyG index) decreased significantly at the end of three months with the education intervention; diabetes self-management knowledge and capacity increased significantly. We recommend that patients be provided with planned, continuous and multidisciplinary diabetes education within the scope of preventive health services for diabetes in primary health care institutions FHC, CHC and HLC. Keywords: Diabetes, control, education, primary health care, self-management