Investigating the Effect of Lifestyle Modification Education on Diabetic Patient Blood Sugar Levels

Introduction: Diabetes is the most common metabolic disease globally, and its control is not effective without changing the lifestyle. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of lifestyle modification education on the blood sugar of diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental interventional study was performed in 2017 among diabetic patients referred to the Urmia Diabetes Association. We randomly divided 74 patients into the intervention and control groups (37 patients in each group). Demographic characteristic forms and blood sugar control checklists were used to collect information. Educational interventions were performed in eight sessions of 1.5 hours during two months for the intervention group. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and paired t-test were used to analyze the data. SPSS software version 16 was used for data analysis, and the difference was considered significant at a level of less than 0.05. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 48.9±10.8, and the majority (75.6%) were women. Before the study, the mean blood sugar level of patients was 241 mg/dl with a standard deviation of 54.6 mg/dl. The mean blood sugar level was not different between the groups before the intervention but, after the intervention, it was significantly lower in the intervention group (p-value=0.01). Conclusion: Lifestyle modification education can significantly reduce the average blood sugar of people with diabetes.