The Effect of Telephone Follow-up on Self-Care Behaviors of Diabetic Patients Referring to Yazd Diabetes Center

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent chronic metabolic diseases all over the world and annually three million people die of diabetes. Currently, 3-5% of our country’s populations suffer from diabetes. This study aimed to determine the effect of telephone follow-up on self-care behaviors (e.g., diet, exercise, foot care, monitoring of blood glucose, use of medications) of diabetic patients. In this quasi-experimental study, 191 patients suffering from diabetes type 2, referring to Yazd diabetes center, were randomly selected through sequential sampling. Subsequently, they were divided into control and experimental groups. The questionnaire applied for obtaining data included the following: demographic information, disease information, diabetic self-care behaviors, test results and records of patients’ answers in telephone follow-ups. The obtained results demonstrate that the experimental group, with mean self-care behavior score of 217/07±11/29, had a statistically significant difference from the control group (p=0/000) suggesting that telephone follow-ups can effectively improve self-care behaviors of diabetic patients. Additionally, 1/80% of the population in the experimental group had satisfactory self-care behaviors before the study and 34/16% of them reached the desired level after the study. In the control group, on the other hand, 1/27% of the population had the desired level of self-care behaviors before the study and 17/6% of them reached the desired level after the study. In the experimental group, glycosylated hemoglobin decreased by 1/36%, (before the study: 8/7%±0/83 and after the study: 7/34%±0/72). While in the control group, glycosylated hemoglobin decreased by 5% (before the study: 8/7%±%0/74 and after the study: 8/31%±0/67). The obtained results suggest a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups. This study showed that long-term telephone follow-up can effectively improve self-care behaviors of diabetic patients.