The effect of education given to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus on self-care

This research was performed as a single group pretest-posttest experimental design to determine the effect of education given to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus on self-care. The research was performed between October 2007 and June 2008 in the Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinics located in A and B Blocks of Erzincan State Hospital. The research population included 100 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who attended the above mentioned units between the specified dates and met the inclusion criteria. Patients were subjected to a pretest using a patient identification form, Diabetes Self-Care Scale (DSCS) form in Turkish language and metabolic control parameters. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean values of pre-education and posteducation DSCS scores with an increase in mean posteducation scores. These results demonstrate that the education given to patients improves their self-care and metabolic control variables.