The effect of self-care intervention program on daily living activities among patients with diabetes mellitus

Background Aim: The most important goal of providing care for patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is to increase the level of activity and hence prevent the progression of the disease. DM is a chronic disease with no definitive treatment, however it can be controlled with proper self-care. Methods Materials: This was a pre-test and post-test semi-experimental study without a control group. The statistical sample included 70 patients with DM who were gradually selected from among members of Sabzevar diabetes association, Iran, in a random manner. The patients were under self-care training program for 3 sessions of 2 hours. Data were collected using the self-care diabetes activity questionnaire and Barthel Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Index and were analyzed using the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS. Results: Findings showed that the mean daily activities of patients were significantly different before and after self-care program, indicating the positive effect of self-care training program on daily activities of patients. Conclusion: The present study showed that self-care education program significantly and positively affected the daily activities of patients. Therefore, such training is recommended in order to improve the health status and reduce the progression of DM.