Self-care activities and their relationship to metabolic and clinical control of people with diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Cross-sectional study with the aim to evaluate self-care in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus and verify its relationship with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. The sample included 218 patients under outpatient follow-up. Self-care activities were evaluated by means of a questionnaire that was previously translated and validated for Brazil. The questionnaire items that reached the highest means were related to drug therapy, whereas those with the lowest means were related to the practice of physical activity. Age correlated inversely with physical activity and foot care, and elapsed time since the disease diagnosis showed a direct correlation with blood glucose monitoring. Data showed that self-care activities related to behavioral changes are the ones that require greater investments to achieve its goals, and age and time since diagnosis should be considered in the planning of nursing care for people with diabetes mellitus.

Adherence to diabetes mellitus care at three levels of health care

“…8 A total of 50 individuals were drawn from this database using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, stratified according to sex and age, in a way the final sample would represent the whole database, composing this study's sample.…”

“…Information that corroborate these results is reported in other studies. 8,10 In regard to the Blood Glucose Monitoring domain, the PHC and SHC units obtained means less than those obtained by the THC unit. These means may be explained by the fact that the use of insulin is less frequent in the two units when compared to the THC unit.…”

“…6 An individual with DM may adhere to one self-care activity but not to others. 5 The Brazilian literature reports a tendency of improved rates of medication adherence, regardless of the level of health care, 6,7,8,9,10 , but worse adherence rates concerning self-care activities like exercises, 8 foot care 7 , and a healthy diet. 7,8,10 In summary, the rates of medication adherence reported by studies are sometimes higher and sometimes similar among studies, regardless of the level of care at which individuals are monitored.…”

“…Adherence to diet and exercise, however, is low, even though these are the behaviors indicated as the primary measures to control DM. 6,7,8,11 Due to the importance of actions to support or strengthen treatment adherence at the time of diagnosis in order to prevent or delay associated morbidities, and also over the course of treatment to control such comorbidities, the assumption is that the profile of treatment adherence for individuals with DM in the different phases of the disease may be investigated at the different levels of health care, considering that the clinical characteristics that guide the care provided at each level represent the progression of the disease.…”

Manual De Cuidados Às Pessoas Com Diabetes E Pé Diabético: Construção Por Scoping Study

“…Nursing and health professionals should support the development or strengthening of selfcare skills, act as facilitators and motivators for behavioral changes required in adhering to treatment, in an individualized, creative and innovative educational process. 35 It is understood that results obtained by this study will leverage health education and DM control by those diabetic people treated in the study scenario.…”