Impact of personalized structured health education in achieving better glycemic control in Diabetes Mellitus .

Diabetes Mellitus is an ever growing global problem with lot of economic, social and health impact. Though there are plenty of tools in the armamentarium to control diabetes , personalized diabetes education is used the least, considering the large burden of disease in our country and the lack of resources. Providing a structured and personalized health education on various aspects of diabetes goes a long way in achieving better glycemic control and thus preventing complications. The aim of our study was to find the impact of structured health education delivered in a personalized manner in adult patients suffering from type two diabetes. This prospective observational study was conducted in type-2 Diabetes mellitus patients who were seen in an outpatient clinic in the southern state Kerala, in India, during the period January to April 2014. A total of 184 patients were included in the study. Glycosylated Hemoglobin( HbA1c) before, 3 months and 6 months after structured health education was performed and compared. There was significant improvement in glycemic control after the education with 70.65% of patients achieving HbA1c reduction and 40.76% achieving target glucose levels. Mean HbA1c reduction by the addition of health education alone was 1.283 ± 1.336 at 3 months and 1.917 ± 1.313, at 6 months , which is higher than any other drug therapy alone. The reduction achieved was statistically significant and clinically meaningful. The HbA1c reduction persisted at 6 months follow up.