Effect of Self-Care Activities and Behaviors on Glycemic Control in Patients With Diabetes at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Perambalur, South India: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background The complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality, resulting in a substantial economic burden on both individual patients and society. The adoption of self-care practices leads to enhanced glycemic control, decreased complications, and an elevated quality of life. This study aimed to examine self-care activities and their association with glycemic control among individuals with diabetes. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted, involving 150 previously diagnosed T2DM patients who visited the tertiary care hospital in Perambalur, Tamilnadu, India, from March 2023 to May 2023. The collection of data involved conducting a semi-structured interview using the diabetes self-management questionnaire (DSMQ) over an eight-week period. Following the input of the data into MS Excel (Microsoft® Corp., Redmond, WA), SPSS Statistics version 26.0 (IBM Corp. Released 2019. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp) was used for data analysis. Results The mean age of the patients was 58.35±11.97 years, and 54.7% (n=82) of them were male. Nearly 65% of diabetic patients (n=98) were on orally administered antihyperglycemic agents. Fifty-nine percent (n=89) of the patients were observed to possess self-care behaviors that met the criteria for adequacy, as the DSMQ scores were dichotomized into "adequate" (≥6) and "inadequate" (<6) categories. We observed that 65% (n=98) of the patients had uncontrolled T2DM, characterized by an HbA1C level above 7.5%. Out of the four subscales of self-care behaviors assessed in this study, "glucose management" scored the highest (5.27±1.30), followed by "dietary control" (5.09±1.53), "healthcare use" (4.86±1.50), and "physical activity" (3.27±1.42). The proportion of diabetic patients who had adequate self-management (55%, n=49) had better glycemic control compared to diabetic patients who had inadequate self-management (4.91%, n=3), and this difference in proportion was statistically significant by the chi-square test (p-value 0.001). Similarly, a statistically significant association was noted between glycemic control and the subscales of DSMQ, namely glucose management, dietary control, physical activity, and healthcare utilization. Conclusion The findings in this study indicate that a noticeable proportion of T2DM patients practice inadequate self-care behaviors. According to the DSMQ, diabetic patients with adequate self-management had better glycemic control than diabetic patients with inadequate self-management. According to this research, patients with good glycemic control also tend to exercise better self-care management and show a greater concern for their illness.