Jaafaripooyan Ebrahim, Habebo Teshome Tesfaye, Mosadeghrad Ali Mohammad, Foroushani Abbas Rahimi, Anshebo Dawit G/Michael
Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran (the Islamic Republic).
Disease Prevention and Control Directorate, Kembata Tembaro Zone Health Department, Durame, SNNPRS, Ethiopia.
Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2021 Oct 19;14:4307-4319. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S332900. eCollection 2021.
Lifelong medical management is the main intervention to reduce diabetes-related morbidities and premature deaths; yet, social support can be a vital intervention to improve diabetics' health. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the magnitude, types, and role of social support in diabetes management in southern Ethiopia.
A multi-stage systematic sampling was applied to recruit 634 adult diabetics from the three-tiered healthcare system in the region. We proportionally distributed the sample size between randomly selected ten health-care facilities across the hierarchy. Pretested questionnaires and checklist; Epi-Info, and SPSS software used for data collection; entry, and analyses, respectively, and the statistical significance was determined at a P-value ≤0.05.
A total of 240 females and 356 males completed the study, and the overall magnitude of the social support was 50.20% [95% CI: 46.19%, 54.21%], and it was categorized into non-material and material with 44.13% [95% CI: 40.14%, 48.12%] and 34.23% [95% CI: 30.42%, 38.04%] magnitudes, respectively, and social support was left to the patients' families and friends whereas formal institutions and the public sectors were rarely offering when the patients needed it. Though sex, educational level, and health-care hierarchy were not significantly associated with the social support, residence, some occupations, presence of diabetic family members, acute medical conditions, blood glucose level, compliance to medical follow-ups, treatment adherence, and taking anti-diabetic drugs a day before the current visit to health-care facility were all statistically significantly associated with social support.
One of every two adult diabetic patients in southern Ethiopia was receiving any social support, and social support for diabetic people reduces medical follow-ups absenteeism, improves treatment adherence, glycemic level controlling, and helps lifestyle modifications. Therefore, to keep diabetic people healthy and achieve diabetes management goals, the Ethiopian healthcare system, institutions, and concerned stakeholders should strengthen the social support for diabetic patients.
终身医疗管理是降低糖尿病相关发病率和过早死亡的主要干预措施；然而，社会支持可能是改善糖尿病患者健康的重要干预措施。因此，本研究旨在确定埃塞俄比亚南部社会支持在糖尿病管理中的程度、类型和作用。
采用多阶段系统抽样方法，从该地区三级医疗体系中招募634名成年糖尿病患者。我们在各级随机选择的10个医疗机构之间按比例分配样本量。分别使用经过预测试的问卷和清单、Epi-Info软件以及SPSS软件进行数据收集、录入和分析，并将P值≤0.05作为确定统计学显著性的标准。
共有240名女性和356名男性完成了研究，社会支持的总体程度为50.20%[95%置信区间：46.19%，54.21%]，分为非物质支持和物质支持，程度分别为44.13%[95%置信区间：40.14%，48.12%]和34.23%[95%置信区间：30.42%，38.04%]，社会支持主要来自患者的家人和朋友，而正规机构和公共部门在患者需要时很少提供。虽然性别、教育水平和医疗层级与社会支持无显著关联，但居住地、某些职业、糖尿病家庭成员的存在、急性医疗状况、血糖水平、对医疗随访的依从性、治疗依从性以及在当前就诊前一天服用抗糖尿病药物均与社会支持在统计学上显著相关。
埃塞俄比亚南部每两名成年糖尿病患者中就有一人获得任何社会支持，对糖尿病患者的社会支持可减少医疗随访缺勤率，提高治疗依从性、血糖水平控制，并有助于改变生活方式。因此，为了使糖尿病患者保持健康并实现糖尿病管理目标，埃塞俄比亚医疗体系、机构及相关利益攸关方应加强对糖尿病患者的社会支持。
