National standards for diabetes self-management education

Objective
To assess the outcome of a diabetes self-management education (DSME) program in terms of the level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and diabetes self-care behaviors.
Background
Diabetes self-care behaviors related to food choices, physical activity, proper medication intake and regular blood glucose monitoring in type II diabetes mellitus have a potential impact on diabetic management.
Patients and methods
A quasi-experimental pretest and posttest interventional study was carried out on 74 uncontrolled type 2 diabetes patients attending the Manshet Sultan family health center, Menoufia Governorate, from May 2019 to December 2019. A matched control group was selected from the same center and was provided usual diabetes care. A DSME program was conducted for the intervention group as one session weekly for 6 weeks. Evaluation of the outcome of the program was performed after 3 months of follow-up by measuring the HbA1c level and by diabetes self-care assessment.
Results and conclusion
There were significant improvements in the HbA1c level before and after implementation of DSME sessions (9.8 ± 1.79, 8.8 ± 1.4) (P < 0.05). Significant improvements occurred in three domains of diabetes self-care assessment including dietary, blood glucose management, and health care use, but there was no improvement in the physical activity domain. There was no improvement in the HbA1c level in the control group at baseline and at the end of the study. This study revealed promising results of DSME sessions and their effect on better diabetes self-care behavior and HbA1c level (P < 0.05).