Development of a new method for simple dietary education in elderly patients with diabetes mellitus*

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to compare the effects of simple dietary education on food intake, nutritional components and glycemic control to those of conventional dietary education. Methods: A randomized control trial was used to investigate the effects of this type of education. We randomly allocated 30 new elderly diabetic outpatients and 38 outpatients who had been visiting our clinic for a long time to the simple education group and the conventional education group. At baseline and 3 months after either the simple or conventional education, we assessed food and nutrient intake for a week using a Yoshimura's food frequency questionnaire. The HbA1c levels of patients were measured at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months after education. Results: We developed a new method for simple dietary education, including several dietary lessons. In new diabetic patients, simple and conventional nutritional courses reduced HbA1c to similar levels at 3, 6, and 12 months as well as intake of total energy, sweets, and fruits at 3 months after the education. However, long-term patients had no significant differences in total energy intake and HbA1c levels at 3 months, but at 6 and 12 months small decreases in HbA1c levels were observed for both the simple and conventional dietary education courses. Conclusions: Our results suggest that simple dietary education is useful and effective for elderly diabetic patients on their first visit in a similar fashion to the conventional dietary education. Because of the small effects of both types of education on glucose control in the long-term patients, more psychosocial support may be necessary.