Evaluation of diabetes self-management education in geriatrics with type 2 diabetes in Turkey

This study was conducted to evaluate the diabetes education efficiency of individuals over 65 years old in Turkey, which has the highest prevalence of diabetes in Europe.

We retrospectively evaluated 320 patients who attended Turkey diabetes self-management group education program (TDSMEP) between 2016 and 2020 in a secondary hospital. Participants who have been followed up for a maximum of 9 months are grouped as over 65 years old and under.

Of the 320 patients, 114 formed the geriatric group and 206 the non-geriatric group. After the training, the number of patients who had HbA1c≤7% increased significantly in both the geriatric (28.1-45.6%) and non-geriatric (19.9-42.2%) (P=0.001) groups. After the training, similar HbA1c goals were achieved in the geriatric and non-geriatric groups. The most significant HbA1c decrease was observed at the 3^rd month of follow-up and remained stable until the 9^th month. In logistic regression analysis, the factors affecting HbA1c failure (HbA1c>7%) after training in the geriatric group were long diabetes duration (OR=1.07, 95% CI: 1.02-1.13, P=0.01), high basal HbA1c levels (OR=1.31, 95% CI: 1.03-1.67, P=0.03), and low education level (OR=3.88, 95% CI: 1.54-9.76, P=0.001).

This is the first study to evaluate the effectiveness of TDSMEP for geriatric individuals whose HbA1c≤7% increased from 28% to 45.6% during follow-up after the training. TDSMEP is recommended for all adult age groups, regardless of age range.