Self-Efficacy, Self-Care, and Metabolic Control in Persons with Type 2, Diet and Exercised Controlled Diabetes

Although people with diabetes are often judged by numbers on a computer screen, tight metabolic control remains the ultimate clinical endpoint (Diabetes control and Complications Trial, 1993). Nurses' understanding of diabetes management coupled with a holistic view of person makes them the optimal professionals to facilitate patient movement toward tight metabolic control. Diabetes knowledge is essential to self-care, but alone is insufficient to produce and maintain behavioral change. psychological determinants of self- care and metabolic control must be explored. Self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977) has demonstrated its importance in behavioral modification but has been minimally investigated in diabetes. This pilot study describes relationships among self- efficacy, self-care, and metabolic control in a convenience sample of six persons with diet and exercise controlled diabetes. Additionally, the study evaluates an integrated multidisciplinary diabetes education program by pre and post measures of these same variables.Air Force Inst of Tech Wright-Patterson AFB OH is the author of 'Self-Efficacy, Self-Care, and Metabolic Control in Persons with Type 2, Diet and Exercised Controlled Diabetes' with ISBN 9781423558729 and ISBN 1423558723.