EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNITY BASED INTERVENTIONS ON CONTROLLING DIABETES MELLITUS IN TEHRAN, 1382.

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a common chronic disease with severe of complications. Proper glycaemic control can prevent these complications considerably. Evaluation of effectiveness of community based and patient centered interventions on glycaemic control, quality of life, patient satisfaction, patient knowledge and reported symptoms were the main aims of this research. Methods: In a clinical trial, patients referring to Iranian Diabetes Association, who were more than 18 years old, divided to intervention and control group randomly. After three months of general interventions in both groups, including diabetes education and specific interventions including telephone calls, continuous corresponding and sending educational issues in intervention group, changes in variables were studied. Results: Among 52 patients in each group, 17 were male and 42 had type 2 diabetes. The average age was 49 in intervention and 51 in control group. Two groups had no significant difference in age, sex, type of diabetes, treatment method and duration of diabetes, other diseases and education. Both groups showed significant improvement in glycaemic control. The mean reduction in HbA1c was 1.45 in intervention and 0.86 percent in control group; the difference is statistically significant (P= 0.02). Patient satisfaction increased in both groups. The satisfaction is significantly higher in intervention group (P=0.000). Knowledge has increased significantly in both groups; the difference in groups is not significant. The improvement in Quality of Life was just significant in intervention group. The reported sign and symptoms have not changed in both groups.    Conclusion: Community based and patient centered interventions with emphasis on continuous education and support can improve glycemic control, quality of life, patient satisfaction and patient knowledge in diabetes mellitus.