Investigation of the effect of alternative treatment methods used by individuals with type 2 diabetes on nutrition habits and self-care

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterized by uncontrolled blood sugar levels that cause defects in the action of insulin. There are many subcategories of diabetes, such as type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes, neonatal diabetes, adult-onset diabetes, and endocrine-induced diabetes. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by abnormalities in carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism and results from insulin secretion, insulin resistance, or a combination of both. This research was conducted to examine the effects of alternative treatment methods used by individuals with Type 2 diabetes on their eating habits and self-care. A total of 48 individuals participated in the study. The mean duration of diabetes of the patients is 10.77 years and 58.7% of them use oral anti-diabetic drugs. 47.9% of the patients stated that they used the CAM method before and 55% of them stated that they used the CAM method to get rid of the side effects of the drug. It was determined that the mean CAM attitude level of the patients was 32.33±8.10 and the mean self-care level was 71.96±13.44. It was determined that the patients who were civil servants (40,33) had a higher CAM attitude than the patients with other professions (p<.05). A positive correlation was found between the number of meals, duration of diabetes, fasting and postprandial blood sugar and self-care levels of the patients (p<.05). Patients using oral anti-diabetic+diet (80.67) and oral anti-diabetic+insulin (80.22) have higher self-care levels than other patients (p<.05). In addition, patients who regularly measure blood sugar(74.62) have higher self-care levels than patients who do not (65.50) (p<.05). A negative correlation was found between the patients' self-care levels and their Na values (p<.05).