THE EFFECT OF SELF-MANAGEMENT TRAINING ON ORAL HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES: A CLINICAL TRIAL STUDY

Background & Aim: Complications associated with type 2 diabetes include various oral and dental issues, which can significantly reduce patients' quality of life.Effective self-management of the disease empowers patients to take an active role in their own care, fostering responsibility for controlling complications, maintaining independence, and enhancing overall performance.This study aimed to determine the impact of self-management training on the oral health-related quality of life among patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Materials & Methods:In this clinical trial research, 70 type 2 diabetic patients were selected using a simple random sampling method at Torfeh Hospital in Tehran and informed consents were taken from them.The patients were then randomly allocated into two groups-intervention and control-each of 35 individuals.Demographic information and Oral Health-related Quality of Life questionnaires were completed by all patients.In addition to the usual measures, the intervention group participated in a selfmanagement training protocol consisting of 12 sessions, while the control group received only routine care.Finally, the patients completed the questionnaires again, and the data were analyzed bySPSS software version 23 using chi-square tests, independent t-tests, and paired t-tests. Results:The findings of the present study showed that the oral health-related quality of life decreased by -1.320.2 in the control group after the intervention, although this change was not significant (p0.05).However, this decrease in the intervention group was -7.050.6,which was statistically significant (p0.05).These findings indicate that the oral health-related quality of life improved by 12.5% after the educational intervention.Conclusion: It could be concluded from the results of this study that self-management training can lead to an improvement in the oral health-related quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes.Therefore, considering the positive impact of diabetes self-management training on oral health, it is recommended that this method be utilized to enhance the oral health-related quality of life for patients with diabetes.