A Descriptive Study to Assess the Lifestyle Practices of Diabetic Patients with Respect to Glycemic Control

Diabetes mellitus is a fast growing non communicable epidemic, which honored India with the title "the diabetes capital of the world". A descriptive study was conducted to assess the life style practices among diabetic patients and to associate the life style practices with selected demographic variables. Non experimental descriptive survey design was employed for this study. The population of this study includes diabetic patients undergoing treatment from UP RIMS and R, a premier health institute in the rural part of UP state. The age group of population was between 30-70 years. Fifty subjects who met inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. Eligible Subjects were selected by using non-randomized convenient sampling technique and by applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Interview schedule and a structured questionnaire were used for collecting demographic data and life style practices. The result shows that 54% (27) of the study participants follow moderate life style practices whereas only 16% (8) samples follow good life style practice. The selected variables such as: sex, education, occupation, income and duration of illness illustrate a significant association with life style practices. In conclusion, the percentage of diabetes patients leading good life style practices is very few and signifies the importance of target approached health education in the hospital as well as community settings.