Contribution of structured self-monitoring of blood glucose to self-efficacy in poorly controlled diabetes patients in China.

AIM

To investigate the association between structured self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) and diabetes self-efficacy in Chinese patients.

METHODS

This study was a single-centre, open-label, prospective, randomized controlled trial. A total of 250 type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients were recruited and randomly assigned to the structured SMBG group and the control group in a 1:1 ratio. The main outcome observed in this subgroup analysis was a change in the diabetes self-efficacy scale (DSES) scores. A multivariate generalized estimating equation was used to evaluate factors affecting the DSES scores.

RESULTS

We found that the DSES scores tended to decrease significantly with the follow-up time in the intervention group (Wald β = 7.882, P < .001; Wald β = 3.130, P = .003; Wald β = 7.879, P < .001). However, no significant differences in the DSES scores were detected in the control group. Glycaemic control improved in both the intervention and control groups at the third month (P < .05). In the intervention group, sustained improvement of the DSES scores maintained the improvement in glycaemic control through the sixth month. In the control group, glycaemic control tended to deteriorate in the sixth month without the support of an improved DSES scores (P = .056).

CONCLUSION

Structured SMBG could contribute to the effective and persistent improvement of diabetes self-efficacy. (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02225691).