The effects of salf-care program on blood pressure of patients with diabetes

Hypertension is a preventable health risk. Thus, it is necessary to pay attention to hypertention in order to decrease macrovascular and microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus. This study examines the effect of the self-care program on the blood pressure of patients with diabetes. This study was a randomized clinical trial performed on 134 patients with type 2 diabetes in the Diabetes Center in Sirajn, Iran, in 2011. The participants were assigned randomly into 2 groups of intervention and control (n = 67) using a random number table. The study tools consisted of a demographic information questionnaire and sphygmomanometer. The blood pressure of participants in both groups was measured before the intervention and every month during the intervention (for 3 months). The self-care program was conducted according to regulatory protocols in 6 sessions of 90 minutes for 6 weeks in the intervention group. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 15, and descriptive statistics (mean, relative frequency) and repeated measure ANOVA, chi-squared test. No difference was observed between mean systolic blood pressure of the two study groups after the intervention at different times of measurement. However, mean diastolic blood pressure of the two groups showed a significant difference (P = 0.001). The results showed that implementation of the self-care program can reduce diastolic blood pressure in type 2 diabetic patients. Therefore, the use of this program is recommended in diabetic patients in order to control diabetes complications.