Knowledge and Self-Care Behaviors Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients in Chumphae Primary Care Cluster, Chumphae district, Khon Kaen

Abstract

Background: Chumphae Family Doctor Clinic, Chumphae District, was established not long ago and no such research data has been collected. The study authors believe that if people with high blood sugar levels are consistently following the right health-promoting activities, it is likely that people with diabetes are able to control their blood sugar levels.

Objectives: To study knowledge and self-care behaviors among patients with type 2 diabetes in Chumphae Family Doctor Clinic area in, Chumphae District, as well as to study the relationship between self-care behaviors and perceptions of the condition, to compare the health care behaviors of people with type 2 diabetes and to compare their own health care behaviors among people with type 2 diabetes between those who can control their glycemic control and those who do not.

Methods: This study was a descriptive research. The sample was comprised of 412 patients afflicted with type 2 diabetes in Chumphae Family Doctor Clinic area. Data were collected from October 2021 to December 2021 using a questionnaire developed by the study and checked for content by 3 experts. The questionnaire confidence test was 0.84. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation was determined using Pearson's correlation coefficient.

Results: The majority of study sample (97.57%) had a high level of knowledge about diabetes. The perception of risk and severity of diabetes was high at 74.03%. The cues to action was high at 98.30%. The perceived benefit was high at 98.30%. The perceived barriers to self-care among diabetics was high at 42.48%. The self-care behaviors among diabetic patients who can control blood sugar levels was high at 69.29%. The self-care behaviors among diabetics who cannot control blood sugar levels was high level 64.21%. The relationship between perceived risk and severity of diabetes and self-care behaviors in both groups of diabetic patients was not statistically significant (P=0.173). The relationship between health care practices and self-care behaviors among diabetic patients was statistically significant (P=0.009). The relationship between perceived benefits of health care and self-care behaviors among diabetic patients was statistically significant (P< 0.001). The relationship between perceived health care barriers and self-care behaviors among diabetic patients was statistically significant (P< 0.001). The self-care behavior among diabetic patients between those who can control their sugar levels and those who cannot control their sugar levels was not statistically significant (P=0.060).

Conclusions: It was found that there was no significant difference in self-care behaviors in both groups and self-care behaviors were not correlated with perceptions of health status among both groups of diabetic patients.