Predictors of Diabetes Self-Management Behaviors in Type 2 Diabetes Patients

Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic condition that requires consistent medical care to help control glycemic indices. Diabetes self-management is found to be essential for optimal glycemic control. This study aimed to investigate the predictors of diabetes self-management in adult with T2DM. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A purposive sample of 142 adults with T2DM attended an outpatient endocrine clinic in an academic hospital in Ilam, Iran was invited to participate in this study from September to October 2016. The data were collected using a combination of validated questionnaires and the blood sample. IBM SPSS software version 22 used to conduct the analysis. Hierarchical linear regression analysis with the stepwise method was used to explore the predictors of diabetes self-management.  Results: The mean age of participants was 54.2 ± (11.8) years. The mean duration of diabetes was 8.9 ± (7.4). Hierarchical linear regression analysis determined that self-management behaviors had positive relationship with efficacy expectation (B= 0.445, P-value< 0.01), quality of life (B= 0.222, P-value= 0.02), and has a negative relationship with HbA1c (B= -0.194, P-value= 0.01).  Conclusion: The result of our study indicate that better diabetes self-management behaviors can be predicted by higher efficacy expectation, the better quality of life and lower HbA1c levels. Future interventions should focus on enhancing efficacy expectation, quality of life and optimizing glycemic control to improve self-management of diabetes.