Role of diabetes self-management education in improving self-care behavior among adult type 2 diabetics

Abstract

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a crucial public health issue causing physical, financial, and psychosocial crises globally. Objectives: To estimate the effectiveness of diabetes self-management education (DSME) on self-care behavior among T2DM patients. Materials and Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention trials promoting self-care behavior among T2DM patients was done by searching MEDLINE, Clinicaltrials.gov, Microsoft Academics, ScienceDirect, ICTRP, OAISTER, LILACS and CINAHL to identify eligible trials starting from inception till August 26, 2021. Studies which did not have a self-care behavior intervention, couldn't be found or translated in English, didn't have control arm or had multiple study arms, had <30 study participants per arm, or included adolescent or pregnant individuals were excluded. Data screening, extraction, and analysis were done with help of Rayyan software, Microsoft Excel and JASP software. Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess bias in the studies. Results: The search yielded 4023 results, of which 20 studies were included in meta-analysis. Our main outcome was “change in self-care behaviour score” owing to the DSME intervention. The pooled standardized mean difference in self-care behaviour was 1.38 (95% confidence interval 0.50–2.27, I2 ¼ 99.2, P < 0.001) with Dersimonian and Laird random effects method. Conclusion: Owing to the paucity of studies in low- and middle-income countries, further studies are needed to evaluate the DSME effectiveness in preventing diabetes related complications and enhancing patients' quality of life.