Abstract
Author(s): B. Arul*, R. Shankar, R. Kothai, Christopher Vincent, Debee Elsa Davy and S. Gayathri
Diabetes care requires a multipronged approach, wherein the patient has an important role to play. This study was undertaken to explore self-care practices of diabetic patient residing in Salem district. A cross-sectional study, involving 100 diabetic patients was conducted in 2015-2016. The mean age of the patients was 58.23. The mean duration of their diagnosis was 84.13 months. 52% of the patients had a family history of Diabetes Mellitus and 24% of the patients were suffering from diseases other than Diabetes Mellitus. Out of the diabetes patients who participated in the study , low level of self-care recorded in domain of medication adherence (83.34% males, 93.10% females), consulted the physician (50% males, 72.41% females), blood glucose level (38.09% males, 58.62% females), diabetic diet (73.80% males, 68.96% females), physical activity (38.09% males, 51.72% females), foot care (69.04% males, 60.34% females), diabetic retinopathy (33.34% males, 32.75% females). Females had a higher percentage (93.10%) of medical compliance than that of males (83.34%). It was also found that females had better diabetic selfcare practicing behavior than males.