. Siamak Mohebi; . Mahmoud Parham; . Gholamreza Sharifirad; . Zabihollah Gharlipour; . Abolfazl Mohammadbeigi; . Fatemeh Rajati
Volume 8, Issue 4 , April 2018, , Pages 1-6
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Social support is one of the most effective factors on the diabetic self‑care. Thisstudy aimed to assess social support and its relationship to self‑care in type 2 diabetic ...
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BACKGROUND: Social support is one of the most effective factors on the diabetic self‑care. Thisstudy aimed to assess social support and its relationship to self‑care in type 2 diabetic patients inQom, Iran.STUDY DESIGN: A cross‑sectional study was conducted on 325 diabetics attending the DiabetesMellitus Association.METHODS: Patients who meet inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected using random samplingmethod. Data were collected by the Summary of Diabetes Self‑Care Activities and MultidimensionalScale of Perceived Social Support, with hemoglobin A1C test. Data were analyzed using descriptivestatistics and independent t‑test, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation, and linear regressiontest, using 0.05 as the critical significance level, provided by SPSS software.RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation of self‑care and social support scores were4.31 ± 2.7 and 50.32 ± 11.09, respectively. The mean level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) ofpatients was 7.54. There was a significant difference between mean score of self‑care behaviorsand social support according to gender and marital status (P < 0.05). The regression analysisshowed that disease duration was the only variable which had a significant effect on the levelof HbA1C (P < 0.001). Pearson correlation coefficient indicated that self‑care and social supportsignificantly correlated (r = 0.489, P > 0.001) and also predictive power of social support was 0.28.Self‑care was significantly better in diabetics with HbA1C ≤7%. Patients who had higher HbA1C feltless, but not significant, social support.CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated the relationship between social support and self‑care behaviorsin type 2 diabetic patients. Interventions that focus on improving the social support and self‑care ofdiabetic control may be more effective in improving glycemic control.
