Social support for patients with type 2 diabetes and metabolic control of the disease

Abstract

Objectives To achieve normoglycaemia and maintain correct parameters of disease compensation, as well as analysis of the impact of social support on the values of metabolic control parameters of type 2 diabetes. Material and methods The study involved 79 patients with type 2 diabetes staying in a diabetology clinic. To collect the research material, the Social Support Scale (S4-MAD) and the results of patient measurements and tests were used, such as blood pressure, weight, height, and laboratory test results: glycated haemoglobin, full lipidogram (triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL and HDL). Results Patients received the most support in the field of nutrition (S = 46.9/100 points), the least in the field of foot care (S = 25.3/100 points). With the increase in social support in 4 sub-scales of the MAD-4 scale, a decrease in diastolic blood pressure was demonstrated. Greater support in the area of self-control resulted in lowering the total cholesterol value, in the area of cigarette smoking, in lowering systolic and diastolic pressure. Conclusions Patients who receiving higher social support have better metabolic control results. Due to the low level of social support for patients with diabetes, healthcare professionals should include family members in education and care whenever possible to provide more support to patients and pay more attention to non-clinical factors in addressing diabetes-related problems. They should also remember that interventions based on psychosocial approaches may not necessarily improve the metabolic control assessed by the values of clinical indicators, but they can affect the quality of life of patients.

Keywords

• social support
• type 2 diabetes
• metabolic control