The Experiences of Patients with Diabetes and Strategies For Their Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Self-care is a key point for patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) to maintain normal blood sugar levels. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, patients with DM experienced limitations in carrying out self-care.  The study explores in-depth the experiences of patients with DM in carrying out self-care during the pandemic of COVID-19. This type of research was qualitative research with a phenomenological approach. The number of participants in the phenomenological study was patients with DM at the Keputih Surabaya Health Center with ten people. The determination of participants is determined using the purposive sampling technique. The collecting data through in-depth interview techniques online and offline. Data analysis used the Van Manen method. There are five themes related to the self-care behavior of patients with DM during the COVID-19 pandemic in this study, namely: poor diabetic diet, absence of physical activity, impaired monitoring of blood glucose levels, change of medication pattern, and absence of foot care. DM patient's self-care behavior obtained is a decrease in diet, physical activity, monitoring blood glucose levels, and foot care. This decrease was caused by various conditions that occurred during the pandemic. In treatment behavior, it was found that there was the use of herbs as a companion to medical treatment. Furthermore, researchers need to carry out further research on strategies for implementing appropriate self-care in patients with DM during a pandemic, especially the use of herbs as a complement to treatment.