Influence of educational work on the behavior of type 2 diabetic patients

Abstract

Background: diabetes mellitus occupies the eighth place of the first causes of death in the country. There is consensus that their morbidity will continue to rise. Diabetological education of patients promotes a better quality of life, decreasing the risk of developing complications.Objective: to describe the influence of educational work on the behavior of patients with type 2 diabetic, belonging to five family doctor's offices of "Manuel Fajardo Rivero" polyclinic, Las Tunas municipality, during 2016.Methods: an educational intervention study was conducted. The sample consisted of 86 patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2, belonging to the health area mentioned. A questionnaire was applied before and after the intervention to explore knowledge, behavior, metabolic control and presence of complications. The intervention was carried out by means of a basic course. The data was processed by descriptive statistics.Results: at the beginning 37, 2 % of the patients had knowledge about the disease, 78,1 % of them with more than 10 years of evolution; after the intervention only 21,9 % did not reach the knowledge. The number of patients with poor metabolic control decreased with the intervention: 40 less for fasting blood glucose and 33 less for postprandial glycaemia. The number of patients who do not practice physical exercises also decreased in 37. The 70,9 % of the patients reported improve their diet, self-care and adherence to treatment. No new complications were reported.Conclusions: the results described support the positive influence of the educational intervention carried out that allowed a remarkable improvement in the metabolic control of these patients and positive changes in their lifestyle.

Keywords

• diabetes mellitus, type 2
• self care
• control
• health behavior