Self-care Behaviour and Related Factors in Older People with Type 2 Diabetes

Aim: The present study examined the factors related to self-care behaviour in type 2 diabetic patients aged > or =65 years. In addition, this study tested the effect of the important explanatory factors on self-care behaviour.

Background: Along with the development of an ageing society, diabetes occurs frequently among older people. Diabetes requires continual medical treatment, with patients responsible for self-care. Although the relationships among social support, depression and self-care have been widely studied, little is know about older diabetic patients, especially in Taiwan.

Design: A correlational design was adopted. In total, 165 patients recruited using convenience sampling were diabetic outpatients at three hospitals in southern Taiwan from January-March 2005.

Methods: The participants were interviewed using the Personal Resource Questionnaire 2000 (PRQ 2000), Diabetes Self-Care Scale and Taiwan Geriatric Depression Scale (TGDS). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis.

Result: Self-care behaviour scores were significantly influenced by different gender, education level, economic status and religious beliefs of older diabetic patients. Depression and self-care behaviour were negatively correlated. Social support, education and duration of diabetes significantly affected self-care behaviour, accounting for 35.6% of total variance. CONCLUSIONS. Social support plays a vital factor in contributing to the facilitation of self-care behaviour. These analytical findings demonstrate the importance of social support, education and duration of diabetes in determining self-care behaviour for diabetic older diabetic patients and serve as references for future studies of self-care behaviour in type 2 older diabetic patients.

Relevance To Clinical Practice: Implication for nurses highlights the significance of providing patients with social support that will enable them to have good support systems during their disease treatment to enhance self-care abilities and improve quality of life.