FACTORS INFLUENCING DIABETES SELF-MANAGEMENT AMONG ADULTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS IN WENZHOU, CHINA

Abstract

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in China continues to rise and diabetes self-management is generally suboptimal. The aims of this study were to ascertain diabetes self-management among adults with T2DM and to examine whether diabetes knowledge, perceived self-efficacy, fatalism and social support can predict diabetes self-management among adults with T2DM. A simple random sampling method was used to recruit the sample of 108 adults with T2DM in the diabetes outpatient department (OPD) at the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China. Research instruments included the demographic questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ), the Diabetes Knowledge (DKN) scale, the Self-efficacy Scale for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (SE-Type 2 scale), the Fatalism Scale, and the Perceived Social Support scale (PSSS). Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and standard multiple linear regression.

The results revealed that 62% of adults with T2DM had poor control blood sugar (HbA1c ≥ 8.0%) with suboptimal diabetes self-management (M = 4.85 out of 10, SD = 1.42). Considering the DSM subscales, medication adherence subscale had the highest mean score of 6.31 (SD = 2.85), followed by physician contact (M = 6.20, SD = 1.66), dietary control (M = 5.32, SD = 2.09) and physical activity (M = 4.50, SD = 2.88). Glucose monitoring subscale (M = 2.40, SD = 1.95) had the lowest mean scores. The regression analysis showed that diabetes knowledge, perceived self-efficacy, and social support could explain 38.2% of the variance in diabetes self-management among adults with T2DM (F3, 104 = 23.021, p < .001). However, only diabetes knowledge (β = .468, p < .001) and perceived self-efficacy (β = .184, p = .039) could significantly predict diabetes self-management.

The findings suggested that increased diabetes knowledge and perceived self-efficacy can help improve diabetes self-management in T2DM to ascertain the ultimate treatment outcomes.

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