The Assessment of Self Care Practices amongst Diabetic Patients of Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease and with rapidly increasing prevalence, it requires continuous diabetic care beyond just glycemic control. It needs continuous self-management and multi factorial risk reduction strategies. This study aims to assess the self-care practices of diabetic patients living in Rawalpindi and to determine the relationship of sociodemographic characteristics with their self-care practices. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two private diabetic clinics of Rawalpindi from February to July 2022. A validated structured questionnaire using Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) scale was administered to assess self-care practices of the study participants. A total of 230 participants through convenience sampling aged 25 to 86 years were recruited in the survey. SPSS version 22 was used to carry out the statistical analysis. Results: The current study comprised of 107(46.5%) males and 123 (53.5%) females with mean age of 54.85 ±12.41 years.  Among them, 65.2% had adequate self-care practices. It was found that marital status (p=0.004), educational status (p=0.002), monthly income (p=0.001) and duration of diabetes (p=0.006) were significantly associated with self-care practices of the participants. Conclusion: More than half of the participants had adequate self-care practices. Sociodemographic variables like marital status, education, monthly household income and duration of diabetes were significantly associated with the self-care practices of diabetic patients. Key words: Diabetes Mellitus, Pakistan, Self-Care, Self- Management, Survey