Relationships of family support, diet therapy practice and blood glucose control in typeII diabetic patients

The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of family support for diabetic patients and the diet therapy practice of patients themselves, and to analyze the relationship between family support and diet therapy practice and blood glucose control, and thus to prepare basic data for the development of effective education programs to improve blood glucose control in diabetic patients. The study subjects were 82 patients with type II diabetes, aged over 20 in the Chungbuk area. The gender distribution of subjects was 52.4% males and 47.6% females, and BMI showed 29.3% overweight and 35.3% obesity. Among the 82 study subjects, the relationship between diet therapy related family support and blood glucose control was examined in 67 subjects who answered practicing diet therapy, and the results showed that the family support score of a group with excellent blood glucose control was significantly higher than those of groups with fair or poor control (p<0.001) and the correlation between the two factors was very high (r=0.341, p<0.001). For the relationship between diet therapy practice by patients themselves and blood glucose control, diet therapy practice of a group with excellent blood glucose control was significantly higher than those of other groups (fair or poor control groups) (p<0.001) and the correlation between two factors was very high (r=0.304, p<0.001). For other factors influencing blood glucose control, a group with diabetes education showed significantly better blood glucose control compared to other groups without education (p<0.05). From the above results, diet therapy practice by patients, family support, and the necessity of diabetes education were confirmed to control blood glucose of diabetic patients. In conclusion, development and operation of education program should include not only patients but also their family members.