Impact of periodic counselling of diet and lifestyle modification on glycaemic index in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Impact of periodic counselling of diet and lifestyle modification on glycaemic index in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Shweta Malakar1*, Dr SK Singh2, Dr Kauser Usman3 1PhD Scholar, Deptt. Of Community Medicine and  Public Health, King George's Medical University UP, India. 2Professor, Deptt. Of Community Medicine and  Public Health, King George's Medical University UP, India. 3Professor, Deptt of Medicine, King George's Medical University UP, India. Abstract Background- The cornerstones of type 2 diabetes prevention and treatment are thought to be lifestyle modification and medical nutrition therapy. Hence, this is to bring forth the impact of lifestyle modifications through periodic counselling on HbA1c levels of the patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Methodology- A randomised control trial with 1:1 allocation ratio was conducted in the department of medicine at a tertiary care centre of northern India. All diabetics between age 30 and 55 years were included in the study. Then all these patients were allocated randomly into control and experimental group. Participants in the intervention group as well as the control group were counselled on diet, exercise (physical activity), lifestyle modification and disease condition. The control group was asked to visit again after six months. The experimental group was asked to visit after every one month for periodic counselling up till six months. Results- Out of 110 diabetics, mean age in the control and intervention group was48.24±10.126 years and 50.87±10.540 years respectively. There was a significant difference in fasting and post prandial levels of 4th and 5th follow-up across both groups. There was a significant difference in the 6th month HbA1c values of both groups (p-0.008). The difference in HbA1c among the intervention group at baseline and both follow-ups was also statistically highly significant (P value-0.0001). Conclusion- Life style modification and diet periodic counselling and its adherence can benefit significantly on diabetes control and treatment even within 6 months of intervention.