Study of the type 2 diabetic patients’ status of care and control in rural areas of Ardabil Province in 2017, Iran

Abstract

Introduction. Diabetes mellitus includes a group of metabolic disorders diagnosed by increased serum glucose concentration. It causes major changes in most systems of the body, which lead to acute and chronic complications of the disease which results in disability, medical costs, and high mortality. This research was conducted to assess type 2 diabetic patients’ status of care and control in rural areas of Ardebil province in order to improve the care indicators by presenting results to regional authorities. Materials and methods. In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study, 360 patients identified as type 2 diabetes in rural areas of Ardabil province were selected through cluster sampling and data was collected through a questionnaire by interviewing patients and reviewing their files, and 3 categories of demographic, clinical and socio-economic factors were studied. The data was analyzed by Chi-square and Friedman statistical tests using SPSS software version 20. Results. According to Chi-square test, there was a significant relationship between the patients’ marital status (p = 0.032) and their complications of diabetes (p = 0.10) and the level of care and between the number of patients’ family members (p = 0.001) and body mass index (p = 0.006) and the level of control and also, between the use of ordered drug by patient and the level of care and control (p = 0.003). The results of the mean ranking based on the Friedman statistical test showed that the age variable has the highest mean score and the greatest impact on the care and control of the disease and the lowest score and impact was of the nutrition education variable. Conclusion. This study revealed that in order to control the complications of the disease, lifestyle changes, dietary observation, weight control, ordered drug use and self-care programs are very effective.