Diabetes Educational Intervention in Society to Improve (DESI) Quality of Life

Abstract

Background: Diabetes self-management education (DSME) is globally recognized as an integral part of diabetes management and in majority of the developed countries, it is delivered by trained diabetes educators. Unfortunately, in India, it is still not considered an essential part of diabetes management. Materials and Methods: A self-structured diabetes education program, of a 75-min duration, was developed over a period of six months. To assess the knowledge, before and after the implementation of the education program, a validated questionnaire, Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire 24 (DKQ24) was used. Results: A total of 50 patients (34 males; 74%) were recruited in the study. The mean age of the study participants was 54.98 ± 12.02years, with a mean duration of diabetes 12.34 ± 8.76years and mean HbA1c 8.1 ± 1.49%. A statistically significant (P < 0.05) improvement in the proportion of correct responses (14 out of 24 questions; 58.3%) was seen after the implementation of the DSME program. Conclusion: There is limited research available in India on DSME. To meet the need of a structured diabetes education program in India, we have evolved one such program (duration of 75 min) within a period of six months. We anticipate this program to have enough potential in developing countries in the long run.