The relationship between spiritual intelligence and self-management in patients with diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in children. Metabolic control and following diet therapy in teenagers with type 1 diabetes are weaker than children before the adolescence stage. One of the most important factors influencing self-management seems to be spiritual intelligence. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between spiritual intelligence and self-management in patients with diabetes.

The population of this descriptive cross-sectional study consisted of all adolescents with type 1 diabetes referring to the clinic of Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj, Iran, which were 194 people. Data were collected by interview and using a questionnaire. Sampling method was available or simple sampling. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS software.

The majority of people were in the middle period of adolescence. More than half (88.5%) of them had a moderate and good economic situation and the majority of them (62.5%) had a history of diabetes in the family. Most of the people (56.5%) had an average duration of diabetes. More than half of the subjects were the first and second children of the family.

The results showed that self-management increased with increasing spiritual intelligence of individuals, and with decreasing spiritual intelligence, self-management decreased; in other words, there was a positive and significant correlation between spiritual intelligence and self-management.