Published online Jul 15, 2019. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v10.i7.403
Peer-review started: April 22, 2019
First decision: May 8, 2019
Revised: May 16, 2019
Accepted: June 11, 2019
Article in press: June 11, 2019
Published online: July 15, 2019
There is a limited study on the diabetes empowerment among type 2 diabetes patients par-ticularly in primary care settings. This study aims to assess the diabetes empowerment scores and its correlated factors among type 2 diabetes patients in a primary care clinic in Malaysia.
Diabetes is becoming a global epidemic of the 21st century and over 70% of known cases of diabetes occur in the developing countries. Evidence shows that self-empowerment is important in managing chronic diseases, especially diabetes. Self-empowerment is an approach that can improve the ability of the patients with diabetes to understand the disease process better, involve actively in self-care and practice healthy lifestyles for better disease control. Therefore, it is very crucial to identify the predictors for diabetes empowerment score among type 2 diabetes patients.
Our objective was to access the diabetes empowerment score among type 2 diabetes patients, also to identify correlated factors with diabetes empowerment scores among type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients in primary care clinic. In addition, we aimed to identify the predictors for diabetes empowerment score among type 2 diabetes patients.
This is a cross sectional study involving 322 adults with type 2 DM patients followed up in a primary clinic. Systematic sampling method was used for patients’ recruitment. The Diabetes Empowerment Scale (DES) questionnaire was used to measure patients’ empowerment. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 25 and multiple linear regressions was used to identify the predictors of total diabetes empowerment scores.
Median age of the study population was 55 years old, 56% were male and mean duration of diabetes was 4 years. The total median score of the DES was 110 [interquartile range (IQR) = 10]. The median scores of the three subscales were 40 with (IQR = 4) for “Managing the psychosocial aspect of diabetes”, 36 with (IQR = 3) for “Assessing dissatisfaction and readiness to change” and 34 with (IQR = 5) for “Setting and achieving diabetes goal”. According to multiple linear regressions, factors that had significant correlation with higher empowerment scores among type 2 diabetes patients were those who had above secondary education level (P < 0.001), those who had diabetes education exposure (P = 0.003), those who had no ischemic heart disease (P = 0.017) and those who had lower glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level (P < 0.001).
Diabetes empowerment scores were high among type 2 diabetes patients in this study population. The predictors for high empowerment score were those who had above secondary education level, diabetes education exposure, no ischemic heart disease status and lower HbA1c.
Given the high empowerment score were those who had above secondary education level, diabetes education exposure, no ischemic heart disease status and lower HbA1c, hence all the diabetes patients should be educate and empower on self-care for long-term diabetes mana-gement.