Self-care practices among diabetes patients registered in a chronic disease clinic in Puducherry, South India

Background: In management of diabetes, self-care plays an important role in prevention of complications. This study aims to find the proportion of diabetic patients following the recommended self-care practices in an urban area of Puducherry. Materials and Methods: Consecutive eligible patients registered in chronic disease clinic were interviewed using Summary of Diabetes Self Care Activities Score (SDSCA) questionnaire. Self-care practices were evaluated in domains of diet, physical activity, foot-care, adherence to medications and blood glucose monitoring. All domains were scored from the range of 0 to 7. Results: Totally 162 diabetic patients were interviewed. The mean (SD) age of participants was 57 (11.1) yrs. Among all domains, adherence to medication was the highest (95.6 %) followed by avoidance of selected food items (99.4%). Almost 78% of patients had their blood sugar checked at least once in the last three months. Only half of them (50.6%) had followed at least 20 minutes of leisure time physical activity. Except washing of foot (83.3%) all other foot care practices were less commonly (35-57%) followed. Conclusion: The study shows that higher level of compliance to self-care practices in terms of taking drugs and diet but self-care in other domains such as foot care is alarmingly low.