Relationship between perceived social support and self-care behavior in type 2 diabetics: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Social support is one of the most effective factors on the diabetic self-care. This study aimed to assess social support and its relationship to self-care in type 2 diabetic patients in Qom, Iran.
Study Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 325 diabetics attending the Diabetes Mellitus Association.
Methods: Patients who meet inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected using random sampling method. Data were collected by the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, with hemoglobin A ₁ C test. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t -test, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation, and linear regression test, using 0.05 as the critical significance level, provided by SPSS software.
Results: The mean and standard deviation of self-care and social support scores were 4.31 ± 2.7 and 50.32 ± 11.09, respectively. The mean level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA ₁ C) of patients was 7.54. There was a significant difference between mean score of self-care behaviors and social support according to gender and marital status ( P < 0.05). The regression analysis showed that disease duration was the only variable which had a significant effect on the level of HbA ₁ C ( P < 0.001). Pearson correlation coefficient indicated that self-care and social support significantly correlated ( r = 0.489, P > 0.001) and also predictive power of social support was 0.28. Self-care was significantly better in diabetics with HbA ₁ C ≤7%. Patients who had higher HbA ₁ C felt less, but not significant, social support.
Conclusions: This study indicated the relationship between social support and self-care behaviors in type 2 diabetic patients. Interventions that focus on improving the social support and self-care of diabetic control may be more effective in improving glycemic control.
Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.