Effect of Self-Care Program on Mobility and Physical Activity in People with Type II Diabetes

Inactivity plays an important role in the prevalence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Proper self-care behaviors, including mobility and physical activity, affect the control and prevention of complications in diabetic patients. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of self-care programs on mobility and physical activity in people with type II diabetes.

In this Quasi-experimental study, 40 patients with type II diabetes were randomly assigned into two groups. As the intervention, mobility and physical activity self-care program was conducted in partnership with their families in the residence. Reliability and validity levels of mobility and physical activity questionnaires in measuring self-care behaviors were checked (area related to mobility and physical activity was used (. Data collected before and after the training were compared and analyzed using the SPSS software (version 16).

The scores for mobility and physical activity were similar between the two groups before the training (P>0.05). Six weeks after the training, no significant difference was found in the mean scores of mobility and physical activity between the two groups (P<0.05).

The results showed that the self-care program was effective in changing the lifestyle of people with type II diabetes in terms of mobility and physical activity. Therefore, self-care programs are recommended for all areas of self-care behavior, especially mobility and physical activity in type II diabetes and other chronic illnesses.