Electronic ISSN 2287-0237
To examine glycemic control in diabetic patients who participated in a T2DM education pathway.
The study was a retrospective study on diabetic patients who participated in a T2DM education pathway at the Diabetes, Thyroid and Endocrine Center, Bangkok Hospital from January 2012 to December 2013. The data assessment included: 1) Demographic data, 2) Data of self-care behaviors including exercise behavior, self-monitoring blood glucose and drug related problems (DRP) and, 3) Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) data obtained from the electronic medical record (EMR).
A total of 163 diabetic patients took part and 105 of these (64.4%) were males. The average age was 53.7 ± 11.5 years. The average HbA1c decreased from 9.6 ± 2.0% to 7.6 ± 1.6% after one year of joining the pathway (p < 0.01). With regards to the links between the related factors and HbA1c after participating in the pathway, it was found that self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) was associated with a decrease in HbA1c which was statistically significant (p < 0.01). For other factors, including exercise and drug related problems (DRPs), although there was no statistical correlation, the patients who did exercise had lower HbA1c levels than those who did not exercise.
The study revealed that SMBG allowed the diabetic patients to be able to better control their blood glucose level. The research team will apply these results with the diabetic patients by encouraging them to do SMBG in order to allow them to adjust their eating habits and do appropriate exercises.
DM education pathway, type 2 diabetes, HbA1c
10.31524/bkkmedj.2016.02.005
