EVALUATION OF FASTING BLOOD SUGAR AND GLYCATED HEMOGLOBIN IN ELDERLY DIABETIC PATIENTS BEFORE AND AFTER ENTERING THE NATIONWIDE PROGRAM FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF DIABETES IN ISFAHAN

Diabetes is a chronic disease that is increasing in the world that has a different outbreak in different societies. 90% to 95% of all types of diabetes include type 2 diabetes. This disease is spreading due to the Industrial life and urbanization .The Nationwide Program for Prevention and Control of Diabetes is already under way for controlling the disease and its side-effects. This study is intended to probe into the effects of the program in the country.

This study used a cross-sectional pre- and post-test design involving 100 elderly patients newly introduced to be suffering from diabetes who were selected by convenience sampling in Isfahan. The data collection methods were a questionnaire on demography and health, and another one on patients’ levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS) and hemoglobin glycosides (HbA1c(The data was gathered before and three months after the patients’ entrance into the program.

The mean and standard deviation of the fasting blood sugar before the program were 172.73 and 71.68 and after the program 143.02 and 51.19, respectively (P<.001; t=5.30). And finally, glycated hemoglobin mean and standard deviation before the program were 8.24 and 1.9 and after the program 7.44 and 1.66, respectively (P<.001; t=4.79).

The results indicate the importance of the program for the prevention and control of the elderly patients’ diabetes by controlling their fasting blood sugar and glycated hemoglobin.It is recommended that this program be implemented in all health centers of the country