Self-management practices for preventing complications of type II diabetes mellitus in low and middle-income countries: A scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: The projected increase in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus globally is expected to hit the low and middle income countries the hardest. The majority of the day to day disease management activities needed to achieve glycaemic control and improve the quality of life among patients with diabetes mellitus falls on the patient and/or their families. Determining the self-management practices by patients with diabetes mellitus can help develop interventions that can enhance these practices and help prevent complications.

Objective: The current study aimed to explore the self-management practices of patients with type II diabetes mellitus in low and middle-income countries to prevent complications.

Design: A scoping review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute approach to conducting scoping reviews. The context of the review was low and middle income countries with the core concept being self-management practices for prevention of complications.

Methods: Articles in Scopus databases and on the EBSCOHost platform were searched, as were their reference lists. If abstracts met inclusion criteria, full articles were downloaded and data extracted. The review included original research studies, published in the English language. The research studies included in the review were conducted between the year 2000 to 2022 among patients diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus.

Results: This search yielded 823 articles; after deduplication, twelve studies were included in the final list. Four categories of self-management practices for preventing complications of type II diabetes mellitus were identified. The categories are i) acquisition of diabetes-related knowledge, ii) essential skills to manage diabetes mellitus, iii) lifestyle modification, and iv) availability of psychological support and follow-up.

Conclusions: Most diabetes care is dependent on patients' self-management levels. The studies reviewed in this article show that patients are capable of adequate self-management when practices are tailored to their needs.

Registration: The scoping review protocol was registered in the Fig Share platform on 17th January 2022 under the digital object identifier https://doi.org/10.38140/ufs.17206751.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus complications; Diabetes self-care; Low and middle income countries; Self-management practices; Type II diabetes mellitus.