CONTROL OF DIABETES SYMPTOMS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS

This semi-experimental study was conducted to determine the effects of diabetes education on degree of suffering from and symptoms of diabetes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study was carried out in Mu？la S？tk？ Ko？man Training and Research Hospital Internal Diseases Clinic. Among the study population of 213 patients, 106 were in the control group and 107 were in the intervention group. A general questionnaire and the revised diabetes symptom checklist scale (DSC-R) were used for data collection. Among the study population, 56.3% were males and 36.2% were between 40 and 54 years of age. Statistically significant differences were found between the control and intervention groups in DSC-R scale and its hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, psychology, and neurology subscales (p<0.05). According to the results, it was determined that the mean score of the pre-training score was higher than the post-training score. The diabetes education program led to remarkable improvements in “irritability just before a meal” among hypoglycemia subscale, in “very thirsty” among hyperglycemia subscale, in “alternating clear and blurred vision” among ophthalmology subscale, in almost all symptoms among psychology subscale, and in “aching calves when walking” among neurology subscale. Efficacy of diabetes education on hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, psychology, and neurology subscales was observed in patients with T2DM