Interventions to promote diabetes self-management yield initial improvements in blood glucose control, but long-term effects are unclear and rely excessively on providing information.
What are the determinants of effective self-management in diabetes mellitus and how can it be promoted?
Effective diabetes self-management is driven more by transient situational factors than stable traits, highlighting the need for interventions that address these specific determinants rather than just providing information.
Diabetes has no known cure and is a leading source of morbidity and mortality. Clinical management involves patients managing a complex and variable regimen. This article reviews the determinants of effective self-management and the methods of promoting better self-management. Trait variables (e.g., personality and demographics) have been presumed to affect self-management, but evidence suggests they have little impact. The important determinants of self-management are transient situational factors such as psychological stress and social pressure to eat. Interventions to promote better self-management have reported initial improvements in blood glucose control, but the long-term effects are unclear. We conclude that self-management has been inadequately assessed and that attempts to improve self-management have relied excessively on providing information. More research is needed to clarify determinants of self-management, and interventions to improve self-management will need to change these determinants.
Goodall et al. (Tue,) conducted a review in Diabetes mellitus. Self-management interventions was evaluated. Interventions to promote diabetes self-management yield initial improvements in blood glucose control, but long-term effects are unclear and rely excessively on providing information.