Exploring Self-Management Practices Among Patients with Diabetes in Government Hospitals in the Upper West Region of Ghana

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic progressive metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycaemia mainly due to absolute or relative deficiency of insulin hormone. The study aimed at exploring the level of self-management practices among diabetes patients receiving care in public hospitals in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The research was a cross-sectional survey adopting stratified sampling technique to select 201 respondents. A questionnaire was used in the study for data collection with a reliability coefficient of 0.8. The data was analyzed using the SPSS version 21. Adherence to proper selfmanagement practices was high with a mean percentage of 64.7%. Demographic factors of diabetes patients did not have any effect on their Self-Management Practices (p>0.05). There were differences in Self-Management practices among group of diabetes patients receiving care at different hospitals (p<0.05). In conclusion, most diabetes patients in the Upper West Region adhered correctly to self-management practices. However, they needed to improve upon the management on monitoring of blood sugar level and foot care. There was a difference in self-management practices of diabetes patients who received care at Wa and Lawra. It was also found that sex, gender, district of location, occupation, and income among others did not have influence on self-management practice.