Objective: To explore the effect of systematic self-management education on quality of life, anxiety and depression of patients with Type 2 diabetes in communities.
Methods: A total of 248 patients with Type 2 diabetes from 10 communities of Changsha from February 2009 to July 2010 were randomized into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group received systematic self-management education, while the controls received routine community education. The quality of life, anxiety and depression were measured by adjusted diabetes-specific quality of life scale (A-DQOL), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) respectively.
Results: The quality of life, morbidity of anxiety or depression of the intervention and the control group were comparable at the baseline (P>0.05). One and half year later, there was significant difference between the two groups (P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the intervention group got better quality of life (P<0.01), less morbidity of anxiety (8.94% vs. 44.4%, P<0.01) and depression (23.58% vs. 56.00%, P<0.01).
Conclusion: Systematic self-management education can effectively improve the quality of life, reduce the level of anxiety and depression of patients with Type 2 diabetes in communities, which deserves further generalization.