Multiple domains of social support are associated with diabetes self-management among Veterans:

ObjectivesTo examine, among Veterans, relationships of general social support and diabetes-specific social support for physical activity and healthy eating with diabetes self-management behaviors.MethodsPatients from VA Puget Sound, Seattle completed a cross-sectional survey in 2012–2013 (N = 717). We measured (a) general social support and (b) diabetes-specific social support for healthy eating and physical activity with domains reflecting support person participation, encouragement, and sharing ideas. Among 189 self-reporting diabetes patients, we fit linear and modified Poisson regression models estimating associations of social support with diabetes self-management behaviors: adherence to general and diabetes-specific diets and blood glucose monitoring (days/week); physical activity (< vs. ≥150 min/week); and smoking status (smoker/non-smoker).ResultsGeneral social support was not associated with diabetes self-management. For diabetes-specific social support, higher healthy eating support scores acros...