The Relationship between Personality Traits and Confidence in Diabetes Self-Care in the Elderly with Type 2 Diabetes

Personality traits are one of the effective psychological factors in controlling diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between personality traits and confidence in diabetes self-care in elderly with type 2 diabetes.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 163 elderly people with diabetes referred to Arak teaching hospitals in the second half of 2018 were evaluated by evailable sampling method. the Neo Personality and Confidence in Diabetes Self-Care Questionnaires were completed through interview and data were analyzed in SPSS v20 using t-test and ANOVA.

There was a statistically significant relationship between different dimensions of personality traits and confidence in diabetes self-care (p<0.05). Also, there was a statistically significant relationship between neuroticism with occupation, extraversion with age, as well as flexibility with age and occupation (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant relationship between any of the demographic information such as age, sex, occupation, etc. with confidence self-care.

The results showed a relationship between personality traits and self-care confidence in the elderly with type 2 diabetes. It is suggested that educational programs to be organized for this group of patients in relation to personality traits that can lead to improving the patient's self-care ability and adaptation to the disease.