The effect of diabetes self-management education on body weight,glycemic control,and other metabolic markers in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aims. to comprehensively evaluate the effect of a short-term diabetes self-management education (dsme) on metabolic markers and atherosclerotic parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes. methods. 76 patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited in this study. they were divided into the intervention group (n = 36) and control group (n = 40). the patients in the intervention group received a 3-month intervention,including an 8-week education on self-management of diabetes mellitus and subsequent 4 weeks of practice of the self-management guidelines. the patients in the control group received standard advice on medical nutrition therapy. metabolic markers,carotid intima-media thickness (cimt),and carotid arterial stiffness (cas) of the patients in both groups were assessed before and after the 3-month intervention. results. there was a significant reduction in hemoglobin a1c (hba1c,- 0.2 ± 0.56 % versus 0.08 ± 0.741 %; p < 0.05) and body weight (- 1.19 ± 1.39 kg versus - 0.61 ± 2.0 4 kg; p < 0.05) in the intervention group as compared to the control group. however,no significant improvements were found in other metabolic markers,cimt and cas (p > 0.05). conclusions. dsme can improve hba1c and body weight in patients with type 2 diabetes. © 2014 chuang yuan et al.