Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between patients' factors and their expressed preferences for types and features of diabetes self-management education (DSME) interventions.
Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. Participants (N=100) completed a self-report questionnaire. Regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with preferences.
Results: Participants were middle-aged (mean age 58.9 years) men (55%) and women (45%) who had had type 2 diabetes for 6.1 years. They indicated a preference for DSME that includes a combination of educational, behavioural and psychological interventions and were delivered in individual, face-to-face sessions (4 sessions, 60 min each, given monthly) that allowed discussion with diabetes educators to develop and carry out a care plan. Personal (age, educational level and employment) and clinical (duration of diabetes and glycated hemoglobin levels, previous exposure to diabetes education) factors were significantly related to preferences.
Conclusions: To optimize the effectiveness of DSME interventions, health-care providers are encouraged to assess patients' preferences to inform the design of DSME interventions and tailor their implementation to fit the preferences of patients with a range of sociodemographic and clinical profiles.
Keywords: diabetes education; diabetes self-management; diabète de type 2; education; facteurs; factors; gestion autonome du diabète; preferences; préférences; type 2 diabetes; éducation; éducation au diabète.
Copyright © 2018 Diabetes Canada. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.