Impact of the self-care education program on quality of life in patients with type II diabetes.

INTRODUCTION

Diabetes is an irreversible disease requiring lifetime self-care and rehabilitation. Patient education to improve their ability in administering self-care is also effective, lowering the risks of developing complications and promoting the quality of life. This study was conducted to assess the effect of self-care educational programs in promoting the quality of life of diabetic patients.

METHODS

In this pre-test/post-test intervention study design, 30 diabetes patients were included on the basis of a non-randomized sampling, using each subject as her/his own control. The self-care educational program was introduced to participants by researcher through two 55-min sessions. Quality of life by using Iranian Short Form Health Survey was assessed before and after the educational sessions. The paired t-test was used to compare the total and subscale mean scores of the Quality of life before and after the training.

RESULTS

Finding showed that there was a significant increase in General health (P=0.027), Physical role (P<0.001), Physical functioning (P=0.027), Social functioning (P=0.029) and Body pain (P=0.020).

CONCLUSION

The results from the present study demonstrate that structured patient education improves patients 'well-being' after the teaching program. Diabetes educational program should be a basis for the management of diabetes.