INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF COPING TECHNIQUES FOR STRESS AND SELF-REGULATION STRATEGIES ON THE BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVEL OF DIABETIC PATIENTS

Background: the present study aims at investigating the effect of Stress coping techniques and self-regulation strategies on the blood glucose level of diabetic patients. Methods:  the research method was experimentally pretest – posttest with control group. this purpose, out of all those patients who had referred to the Diabetes Center of Bushehr City, 45 diabetic patients were selected randomly in two experiment groups (each with 15 patients) and one control group (with 15 patients) by purposeful sampling method with random replacement. The experimental groups were trained by the Stress coping techniques and self-regulation strategies in eight 90-minute sessions. In this study, the Accu-Chek Active Blood Glucose Meter was used to measure the blood glucose level. Data were analyzed by SPSS V.25. The follow-up phase was also carried out two months after the medical intervention. Results: the training in two ways of stress coping and self-regulation strategies has reduced the level of blood glucose among the diabetic patients (P = 0.0001) of which the impact has remained been stable over the time (P < 0.05). There is also a significant difference in the effect of the Stress coping techniques and self-regulation strategies on the blood glucose level of diabetic patients (P < 0.05) such that training the Stress coping techniques has more impact on reduction of blood glucose level of diabetic patients. Conclusion: results show that training the Stress coping techniques and self-regulation strategies can significantly reduce the blood glucose level of diabetic patients and treat the diabetes effectively.