Abstract:
Background: Globally, the leading cause of death are non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as
against all other causes put together. One of the key NCDs killing a lot of people, especially in
Ghana is diabetes. The evidence shows that diabetic self-management education and practices
could bring about a reduction in Haemoglobin A1C (HbA1C). It is important to unravel the
factors that could affect the successful implementation of diabetic self-management.
Objective: This study examined factors associated with diabetes self-management among
patients with diabetes attending the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH).
Methods: Exploratory cross sectional study design using quantitative methods was used for this
study where 198 patients with diabetes attending (GARH) were randomly selected. Data was
collected using a summary of diabetes self-care activities, diabetes knowledge questionnaire,
provider participatory decision making style (PDMstlye), patient communication (PCOM),
patient understanding of diabetes sel-management and social support scale. In addition, patients’
socio-demographic characteristics were assessed. Quantitative data was cleaned and coded
before being entered into epidata and imported into STATA version 15 for statistical analysis.
Pairwise correlation, simple and multiple linear regression were used to assess the association
between the dependent and independent variables. Significance of the association was accepted
at p<0.05 at 95% confidence level.
Findings: the level of high or good diabetes self - management practices is 25.2%. Under the
multivariate analysis, being a female was statistically significant with an increased SDSCA
(β=4.64; 95%CI= 0.65-8.62) and high satisfaction with how well health care providers helped
patients understanding of diabetes self-management was also significant with an increase in participant’s SDSCA (β=3.47; 95%CI= 1.46-8.22). Other variables were not significantly
associated with SDSCA
Conclusion: The level of diabetes self-management practices among patients with diabetes
attending the GARH was found to be low. There is therefore the need for making policies that
will improve diabetes self-management activities to ensure better treatment outcomes among
diabetes patients at the hospital in particular and the country as a whole.
