Effect of different health education methods on knowledge, attitudes and practices among hospitalized patients with diabetes

Abstract

Objective To assess the effect of ongoing health education compared to a single comprehensive health program on nutritional knowledge,attitudes and practices(KAP) of hospitalized diabetes patients to provide a basis for improving health education for these patients.Methods Newly hospitalized patients with diabetes were randomly classified into Group 1 ( Conventional Education Group; 50 cases) and Group 2 (Intensive Education Group; 58 cases).A single comprehensive health program was conducted for Group 1,and an ongoing health program was provided for Group 2. A self-designed questionnaire was administered to the two groups before and after the health education,and nutritional KAP of these patients were compared.Results In both groups,after health nutritional KAP of the newly enrolled inpatients were substantially improved.For control of total energy intake,control of salt intake and food exchanges,the improvement rates of Group 2 [ 88.4％ ( 38/43 ),84.6％ ( 33/39 ),60.9％ (28/46),respectively] were higher compared to Group 1 [71.1％ (27/38),65.6％ (21/32),40.0％ (16/40),respectively ].The differences were significant ( x21 =4.75,x22 =4.83,x23 =4.37,respectively,P ＜ 0.05).For importance of health education,the improvement rate of Group 2 [ 95.8％(23/24) ] was significantly higher than that of Group 1 [65.2％ ( 15/23),x2 =14.90,P ＜0.01 ].For therapeutic diet,the improvement rate of Group 2 was 14/14,significantly higher than that of Group 1 (5/13; x2 =44.40,P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusion Health education is an effective way to improve the nutritional KAP of inpatients with diabetes.An ongoing health program should have a more significant role in health education for these patients than a single program. Key words: Diabetes mellitus ; Health education; Health knowledge; attitudes; practice