Predictors of Adherence to Self-Care Amongst Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Bulawayo Central

Self-care behaviour adherence is the cornerstone in diabetes care. The success of long-term maintenance therapy for diabetes depends largely on the patients’ adherence to self-care behaviour. The objective of the study was to assess levels and predictors of adherence to self-care behaviour among adults with Type 2 Diabetes in Bulawayo central focusing mainly on Mpilo central Hospital health staff and diabetic patients. A cross sectional study was used in which interviewer administered questionnaires were used to collect data. The questionnaires instrument was designed to understand the content of the programmes on diabetes self-care, to determine the parameters which patients are required to adhere to, to identify accessible diabetic health care services, and to identify key outcomes that determine successful self-care. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0 were employed for analysis of collected. Descriptive statistics, the chi-square was employed to determine the presence of association between adherences to self-care behaviour with other variables (p<0.05) at P-value less than 0.05 while logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictor’s self-care behaviour adherence selfcare domains inclusive of; diet, medication, self-monitoring of blood glucose, physical activity, foot care and diabetes complications examinations. The study showed that social support, dietary counselling, selfdetermination, perceived benefits of dietary regimen are significant facilitating predictors of good adherence to self-care. The study identified financial constraints, forgetfulness, lack of time, reluctance, and reliance on social support as major barriers resulting to poor adherence to self-care adherence particularly undertaking physical activity and foot care. The study recommends targeted interventions that strengthens educational programmes to educate individuals living with diabetes on the importance of self-care.